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AKAM vs. TTD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Internet - Services stocks have likely encountered both Akamai Technologies (AKAM - Free Report) and The Trade Desk (TTD - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Akamai Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while The Trade Desk has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that AKAM has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

AKAM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.14, while TTD has a forward P/E of 69.79. We also note that AKAM has a PEG ratio of 1.61. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. TTD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.91.

Another notable valuation metric for AKAM is its P/B ratio of 3.49. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TTD has a P/B of 21.89.

Based on these metrics and many more, AKAM holds a Value grade of B, while TTD has a Value grade of F.

AKAM sticks out from TTD in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that AKAM is the better option right now.


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Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) - free report >>

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