Analyzing Telecom Argentina (NYSE:TEO) and SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG)

Telecom Argentina (NYSE:TEO) and SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Telecom Argentina and SurgePays’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telecom Argentina	$1,909.80 billion	0.00	-$979.37 million	$0.04	182.00
SurgePays	$137.14 million	0.42	$20.62 million	$1.15	2.60

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

Profitability

This table compares Telecom Argentina and SurgePays’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telecom Argentina	0.42%	0.30%	0.14%
SurgePays	12.93%	55.35%	35.53%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

6.9% of SurgePays shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Telecom Argentina shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.4% of SurgePays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Telecom Argentina has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SurgePays has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Telecom Argentina and SurgePays, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telecom Argentina	1	0	0	0	1.00
SurgePays	0	1	1	0	2.50

Telecom Argentina currently has a consensus price target of $5.70, indicating a potential downside of 21.70%. SurgePays has a consensus price target of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 217.73%. Given SurgePays’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SurgePays is more favorable than Telecom Argentina.

Summary

SurgePays beats Telecom Argentina on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telecom Argentina

Telecom Argentina S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services. The company offers mobile telecommunications services, including voice communications, high-speed mobile Internet content and applications download, online streaming, and other services; and sells mobile communication devices, such as handsets, Modems MiFi and wingles, and smart watches. It also internet connectivity products, including virtual private network services, traditional Internet protocol links, and other products; and programming and other cable television services. In addition, the company offers telephone services, including local, domestic, and international long-distance telephone services, as well as public telephone services; and other related supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller ID, voice mail, itemized billing, and maintenance services. Further, it provides Infrastructure, interconnection, datacenter, Internet, value added, and international long-distance services; and data services, including data transmission, virtual private networks, symmetric Internet access, national and international signal transport, and videoconferencing services; Personal Pay, a digital wallet service; and management and administration services. The company was formerly known as Cablevisión S.A. and changed its name to Telecom Argentina S.A. in January 2018. Telecom Argentina S.A. was founded in 1979 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities. SurgePays, Inc. is headquartered in Bartlett, Tennessee.