Financial Contrast: Accolade (NASDAQ:ACCD) vs. Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL)

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) and Accolade (NASDAQ:ACCD) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Sezzle has a beta of 9.23, meaning that its share price is 823% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Accolade has a beta of 2.07, meaning that its share price is 107% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sezzle and Accolade”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sezzle	$159.36 million	10.88	$7.10 million	$9.40	32.87
Accolade	$441.03 million	0.64	-$99.81 million	($1.03)	-3.39

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

Profitability

This table compares Sezzle and Accolade’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sezzle	25.29%	101.18%	18.90%
Accolade	-18.16%	-18.43%	-10.35%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.0% of Sezzle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.0% of Accolade shares are held by institutional investors. 57.7% of Sezzle shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of Accolade shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sezzle and Accolade, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sezzle	0	0	2	1	3.33
Accolade	0	3	11	0	2.79

Sezzle presently has a consensus target price of $231.50, suggesting a potential downside of 25.08%. Accolade has a consensus target price of $9.04, suggesting a potential upside of 159.07%. Given Accolade’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Accolade is more favorable than Sezzle.

Summary

Sezzle beats Accolade on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc. operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks. In addition, the company provides Sezzle Virtual Card that allows consumers to access the Sezzle Platform in the form of close-end installment loans and shop with merchants that are not integrated with Sezzle; Sezzle Anywhere, a paid subscription service that allows consumers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card at any merchant online or in-store; Sezzle Premium, a paid subscription service that allows its consumers to access large, non-integrated premium merchants; and Sezzle Up, an opt-in feature of the Sezzle Platform. Further, it offers Long-Term Lending through collaboration with third-party lenders and Product Innovation. Sezzle Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Accolade

Accolade, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and provision of personalized and technology-enabled solutions that help people to understand, navigate, and utilize the healthcare system and their workplace benefits in the United States. The company offers a platform with cloud-based intelligent technology and multimodal support from a team of advocates and clinicians, including registered nurses, physician medical directors, pharmacists, behavioral health specialists, women’s health specialists, case management specialists, expert medical opinion providers, and primary care physicians. It also provides medical opinion services to commercial customers; and navigation, care, and advocacy solutions. In addition, the company offers medical consultations that connect patients to qualified condition-specific specialists for adult and pediatric care; and primary care and mental health support solutions. It serves employers who provide employees and their families a single place to turn for their health, healthcare, and benefits needs. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.