So-Young International (NASDAQ:SY) and LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) Critical Comparison

So-Young International (NASDAQ:SY) and LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.3% of So-Young International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of LegalZoom.com shares are held by institutional investors. 16.7% of So-Young International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.5% of LegalZoom.com shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares So-Young International and LegalZoom.com’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
So-Young International	$210.99 million	0.51	$3.00 million	$0.02	52.03
LegalZoom.com	$660.73 million	2.35	$13.95 million	$0.11	75.10

LegalZoom.com has higher revenue and earnings than So-Young International. So-Young International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LegalZoom.com, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

So-Young International has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LegalZoom.com has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for So-Young International and LegalZoom.com, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
So-Young International	0	0	0	0	N/A
LegalZoom.com	1	1	4	0	2.50

LegalZoom.com has a consensus target price of $14.75, indicating a potential upside of 78.57%. Given LegalZoom.com’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LegalZoom.com is more favorable than So-Young International.

Profitability

This table compares So-Young International and LegalZoom.com’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
So-Young International	0.80%	0.48%	0.38%
LegalZoom.com	3.15%	19.47%	7.13%

Summary

LegalZoom.com beats So-Young International on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About So-Young International

So-Young International Inc. operates an online platform for consumption healthcare services in the People's Republic of China. The company offers So-Young Mobile App that offers users medical aesthetic knowledge and experience to reach an informed medical aesthetic treatment decision and make reservations for treatment with medical professionals and medical aesthetic institutions; So-Young Beauty which provides similar interfaces and functions as the mobile app, as well as serves as additional access points to the platform; and medical aesthetic community content through its website soyoung.com. It provides content in various media formats on its online platform generated by users, including professional generated, content from in-house editorial team that shares opinions on specific new medical procedures and trends; user generated content comprising Beauty Diaries that provides details about medical institution, doctor, price, and other information on the treatment; professional user generated, contents from the medical aesthetic influencers; and doctor generated, content from doctors to generate knowledge. In addition, the company offers consumption healthcare services, including dermatology, dentistry and orthodontics, physical examinations, gynecology, and postnatal care; reservation services; and software as a service. Further, it engages in research and development, production, sales, and agency of laser and other optoelectronic medical beauty equipment; manufacture and sells light therapy device, surgical laser device and other equipment; internet information and technology advisory; online medical treatment and consultation; management consulting; internet culture; micro finance services, as well as sells cosmetics products. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates an online platform that supports the legal, compliance, and business management needs of small businesses and consumers in the United States. The company's platform offers business formation products, such as limited liability company, incorporation of C and S corporations, nonprofit formations, doing-business-as, corporate changes and filings, business licenses, legal forms, and beneficial ownership information reports; intellectual property products consisting of trademark and patent applications, and copyright registrations; and tax services, including business and personal tax preparations. It also provides consumer, estate planning, and other services comprising last will and testament, living will, living trust, power of attorney, and name change. In addition, the company offers subscriptions services, including registered agent, compliance, attorney advice, tax advice and preparation, eSignature, virtual mail and check deposit services, trademark monitoring, and estate planning bundle. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Glendale, California.