Financial Analysis: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) vs. Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) and Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Upwork and Mullen Automotive’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upwork	6.80%	14.21%	4.87%
Mullen Automotive	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Upwork has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mullen Automotive has a beta of 2.06, meaning that its share price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Upwork and Mullen Automotive, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upwork	0	5	6	0	2.55
Mullen Automotive	0	0	0	0	N/A

Upwork currently has a consensus target price of $16.55, indicating a potential upside of 47.33%. Given Upwork’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Upwork is more favorable than Mullen Automotive.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.7% of Upwork shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.7% of Mullen Automotive shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Upwork shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Mullen Automotive shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Upwork and Mullen Automotive’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upwork	$689.14 million	2.24	$46.89 million	$0.07	160.45
Mullen Automotive	$370,000.00	51.51	-$972.26 million	N/A	N/A

Upwork has higher revenue and earnings than Mullen Automotive.

Summary

Upwork beats Mullen Automotive on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company's work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development. Its work marketplace also enables clients to streamline workflows, such as talent sourcing, outreach, and contracting. The company's work marketplace offers access to various functionalities for remote engagements with talent, including communication and collaboration, ability to receive talent invoices through their work marketplace, and payment protection. Its marketplace offerings include Upwork Payroll and Upwork Enterprise, as well as managed and escrow services. The company was formerly known as Elance-oDesk, Inc. and changed its name to Upwork Inc. in May 2015. Upwork Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Mullen Automotive

Mullen Automotive, Inc., an electric vehicle company, manufactures, sells, and distributes electric vehicles. Its products include passenger electric vehicles and commercial vehicles; and provides solid-state polymer battery technology. The company is headquartered in Brea, California.