Critical Comparison: WaveDancer (NASDAQ:WAVD) and Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA)

WaveDancer (NASDAQ:WAVD) and Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for WaveDancer and Opera, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WaveDancer	0	0	0	0	N/A
Opera	0	0	2	0	3.00

Opera has a consensus target price of $20.75, suggesting a potential upside of 73.64%. Given Opera’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Opera is more favorable than WaveDancer.

Profitability

This table compares WaveDancer and Opera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WaveDancer	-17.55%	-57.30%	-27.44%
Opera	41.00%	19.52%	17.68%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares WaveDancer and Opera’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WaveDancer	$7.98 million	0.55	-$2.03 million	N/A	N/A
Opera	$411.65 million	2.57	$153.30 million	$1.88	6.36

Opera has higher revenue and earnings than WaveDancer.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.0% of WaveDancer shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.2% of Opera shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.7% of WaveDancer shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 84.4% of Opera shares are owned by 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.

Risk and Volatility

WaveDancer has a beta of 3.15, indicating that its stock price is 215% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Opera has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Opera beats WaveDancer on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WaveDancer

WaveDancer, Inc. develops and maintains information technology systems in the United States. The company also modernizes client information systems; and offers other IT-related professional services to government and commercial organizations. In addition, it offers IT consulting, development, training, migration, and on-site project support; and software development, system modernizations, cloud services, and cybersecurity services. The company was formerly known as Information Analysis Incorporated and changed its name to WaveDancer, Inc. in December 2021. WaveDancer, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.

About Opera

Opera Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile and PC web browsers and related products and services in Norway and internationally. The company offers mobile browser products, such as Opera Mini, Opera browser for Android and iOS, and Opera GX for PCs and Mobile; Opera Touch; PC browsers, including Opera for Computers and Opera GX; Apex Football; Opera VPN Pro; and Opera News, an AI-powered personalized news discovery and aggregation service. It provides Opera Crypto Browser for PCs and mobile; browser-based cashback rewards programs; owns GameMaker Studio, a 2D gaming development platform; and GXC, a gaming portal. In addition, the company operates Opera Ads, an online advertising platform; and offers Web3 and e-commerce services. Opera Limited was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Opera Limited is a subsidiary of Kunlun Tech Limited.