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FUTU vs. ESTC: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Technology Services sector might want to consider either Futu Holdings Limited Sponsored ADR (FUTU - Free Report) or Elastic (ESTC - 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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Futu Holdings Limited Sponsored ADR has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Elastic has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that FUTU has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

FUTU currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.12, while ESTC has a forward P/E of 76.04. We also note that FUTU has a PEG ratio of 1.02. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ESTC currently has a PEG ratio of 3.23.

Another notable valuation metric for FUTU is its P/B ratio of 3.60. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ESTC has a P/B of 15.27.

These metrics, and several others, help FUTU earn a Value grade of B, while ESTC has been given a Value grade of D.

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

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