Comparing Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) and ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA)

ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) and Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.6% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.9% of Flywire shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.5% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Flywire shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

ACV Auctions has a beta of 1.7, meaning that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flywire has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ACV Auctions and Flywire”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACV Auctions	$481.23 million	7.07	-$75.26 million	($0.47)	-43.19
Flywire	$403.09 million	6.17	-$8.57 million	$0.15	133.20

Flywire has lower revenue, but higher earnings than ACV Auctions. ACV Auctions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Flywire, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for ACV Auctions and Flywire, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACV Auctions	0	2	8	0	2.80
Flywire	0	4	10	1	2.80

ACV Auctions presently has a consensus target price of $23.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.76%. Flywire has a consensus target price of $25.29, indicating a potential upside of 26.56%. Given Flywire’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Flywire is more favorable than ACV Auctions.

Profitability

This table compares ACV Auctions and Flywire’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACV Auctions	-12.89%	-12.11%	-5.52%
Flywire	4.23%	2.49%	1.86%

Summary

Flywire beats ACV Auctions on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACV Auctions

ACV Auctions Inc. operates a digital marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for the online auction of wholesale vehicles. The company’s marketplace platform includes digital marketplace, which connects buyers and sellers by providing online auction, which facilitates real-time transactions of wholesale vehicles; Run List for pre-filtering and pre-screening of vehicles up to 24 hours prior to an auction taking place; ACV transportation service to enable the buyers to see real-time transportation quotes and status reports of the vehicle; ACV capital, a short-term inventory financing services for buyers to purchase vehicles; and Go Green’s seller assurance service for against claims related to defects in the vehicle. It also provides remarketing centers, which offers value-added services, such as vehicle reconditioning and storage for dealers and commercial partners. In addition, the company offers data services, including True360 report, which provides cosmetic and structural vehicle assessments integrated into vehicle history reports for dealer to make wholesale and retail transaction decisions on and off the marketplace; ACV market report provides transaction data and condition reports for comparable used vehicles, including pricing data from third-party sources and allows dealers to determine pricing and valuation strategies for used vehicles; and ACV MAX inventory management software enables dealers to manage their inventory and set pricing while turning vehicles. Further, it provides data and technology through inspection, such as condition reports, virtual lift solutions, apex device, and vehicle intelligence platform; and marketplace enablement, comprising MyACV application, private marketplaces, operations automation, live appraisals, and programmatic buying service. ACV Auctions Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

About Flywire

Flywire Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a payments enablement and software company in the United States and internationally. Its payment platform and network, and vertical-specific software help clients to get paid and help their customers to pay. The company’s platform facilitates payment flows across multiple currencies, payment types, and payment options, as well as provides direct connections to alternative payment methods, such as Alipay, Boleto, PayPal/Venmo, and Trustly. It serves education, healthcare, travel, and business to business organizations. The company was formerly known as peerTransfer Corporation and changed its name to Flywire Corporation in December 2016. Flywire Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.