F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV – Get Free Report) and Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
90.7% of F5 shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Viavi Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of F5 shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Viavi Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk and Volatility
F5 has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viavi Solutions has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares F5 and Viavi Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| F5 | $3.09 billion | 8.27 | $692.38 million | $12.56 | 35.89 |
| Viavi Solutions | $1.52 billion | 5.67 | -$30.40 million | ($0.15) | -233.20 |
F5 has higher revenue and earnings than Viavi Solutions. Viavi Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than F5, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for F5 and Viavi Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| F5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.36 |
| Viavi Solutions | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2.56 |
F5 presently has a consensus target price of $426.00, suggesting a potential downside of 5.50%. Viavi Solutions has a consensus target price of $55.43, suggesting a potential upside of 58.46%. Given Viavi Solutions’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Viavi Solutions is more favorable than F5.
Profitability
This table compares F5 and Viavi Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| F5 | 21.95% | 21.54% | 12.16% |
| Viavi Solutions | -2.00% | 19.60% | 7.48% |
Summary
F5 beats Viavi Solutions on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About F5
F5, Inc. provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud. It offers unified, security, networking, and application management solutions, such as web app and API protection; multi-cloud networking; application delivery and deployment; domain name system; content delivery network; and application deployment and orchestration. The company also provides application security and delivery products, including NGINX Plus; NGINX Management Suite; NGINX Ingress Controller; NGINX App Protect; BIG-IP Packaged Software; and BIG-IP Systems. In addition, it provides a range of professional services, including maintenance, consulting, training, and other technical support services. F5, Inc. sells its products to large enterprise businesses, public sector institutions, governments, and service providers through distributors, value-added resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators, and other indirect channel partners. It has partnerships with public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company was formerly known as F5 Networks, Inc. and changed its name to F5, Inc. in November 2021. F5, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
About Viavi Solutions
Viavi Solutions, Inc. engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance. The Network Enablement segment offers an integrated portfolio of testing solutions that access the network to perform build-out and maintenance tasks. The Service Enablement segment covers solutions and services primarily for communication service providers, and enterprises that deliver and/or operate broadband and IP networks (fixed and mobile) supporting voice, video, and data services as well as a wide range of applications. The Optical Security and Performance segment leverages its core optical coating technologies and volume manufacturing capability to design, manufacture, and sell products targeting anti-counterfeiting, consumer and industrial, government, healthcare, and other markets. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Chandler, AZ.
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