Best Stock to Buy Right Now: Sirius XM vs. GoPro

It's constructive to compare companies to see which one makes a better long-term investment. Of course, your risk tolerance also plays a role. When examining a stock investment, it's important to remember that you're taking part ownership in a company. Hence, you should understand its underlying fundamentals.

It's time to take a deeper look at Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) and GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) to determine which one offers better investment prospects.

Image source: Getty Images.

Sirius XM

Sirius XM actually consists of two businesses. There's its namesake division, and then there's its Pandora platform.

The Sirius XM segment offers a range of content, such as music, sports, comedy, and talk, on satellite radio. It generates most of its revenue via subscription fees. Its Pandora segment operates a music, comedy, and podcast streaming platform that allows listeners to personalize the experience. This business produces most of its revenue from advertising.

Both businesses face stiff competition, including free radio and other entertainment venues such as video streaming services. They've struggled with growing revenue. The Sirius XM segment saw self-paying subscribers continue to fall. There were 31.2 million as of Sept. 30, down from 31.5 million a year ago. That helped push third-quarter revenue down 1% to $1.6 billion.

Its smaller Pandora division experienced a tepid 1% year-over-year increase in revenue to $548 million. Advertising revenue increased 2% to $416 million, but that was due to higher podcast and technology fees. With Pandora raising prices on its subscriptions and losing 184,000 subscribers over the past year to 5.7 million, advertising fees may come under pressure. Across all services, Pandora had 41.6 million monthly active users, down 2.2 million from a year ago.

GoPro

GoPro has become known for its cameras that users wear on their heads, capturing videos of people doing various activities. It also sells camera mounts, accessories, and gear (like bags and backpacks). The company's products had the "cool" factor, but competitors have put intense pressure on GoPro's revenue. This includes smartphones' better video functionality.

GoPro's third-quarter revenue plummeted 37% year over year to $163 million. It sold about 500,000 camera units, 18% fewer than a year ago. Management has been pushing subscriptions, which would provide a more predictable revenue stream. However, subscription revenue fell 3% to $27 million.

The stock price jumped earlier this year, doubling since July. During that month, management announced a program that would allow subscribers to make their content available to help train generative artificial models. Under the arrangement, the creators will share in the license revenue.

Making the decision

GoPro's stock has gained 61% since the start of the year (through Dec. 9), while Sirius XM shares have lost about 2%. What does this mean for valuations? Since GoPro reports a loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), investors can't use the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio to make the comparison.

Therefore, investors can turn to the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. GoPro's shares still trade at a discount compared to Sirius XM. The former's stock has a P/S ratio of 0.4, less than half the latter's 0.9 multiple. But it's not about merely buying the stock with the cheapest valuation. After all, no one wants to invest in a value trap.

While that's a point in GoPro's favor, the underlying business has been weak. Undoubtedly, the new program offers potential revenue, but it's unclear how much that will positively affect revenue.

Sirius XM doesn't merely compete with radio stations. There's a lot of competition from various media platforms for people's attention. The sliding number of users and revenue gives me pause.

Hence, in comparing GoPro and Sirius XM stocks, I'd avoid both given the heavy competition they face and their faltering revenue.

Lawrence Rothman, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.