Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 7 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Software industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Why Focus on Undervalued Software Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

Click the button below to learn more about A+ Investor and subscribe today.

7 Undervalued Software Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 7 undervalued stocks in the Software industry for Monday, April 15, 2024. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Software industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Youdao Inc - ADR’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Youdao, Inc. is an intelligent learning company that develops and uses technologies to provide learning content, applications and solutions for users of all ages. The Company operates two business segments. The Learning Services and Products segment offers online courses, including the Youdao Premium Courses, NetEase Cloud Classroom and China University MOOC, as well as learning products such as the Youdao Dictionary and Youdao Cloudnote, sales Youdao Dictionary Pen and Youdao Pocket Translator, and provides learning services to customers. The Online Marketing Services segment is engaged in providing different forms of advertising for marketing.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Youdao Inc - ADR has a Value Score of 91, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Youdao Inc - ADR’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.64 compared to the industry median at 3.79, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Youdao Inc - ADR’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Youdao Inc - ADR’s shareholder yield is higher than its industry median ratio of (2.39%). Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Youdao Inc - ADR’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. Youdao Inc - ADR’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 31.35. This could make Youdao Inc - ADR more attractive because the lower P/FCF ratio indicates that Youdao Inc - ADR is undervalued. The P/FCF ratio metric can also be viewed over a long-term time frame to see if the company's cash flow to share price value is generally improving or worsening.

Cue Health Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Cue Health Inc. is a healthcare technology company. The Company is engaged in providing individuals with a connected diagnostic platform that bridges the physical and virtual care continuum. Its platform, Cue Integrated Care Platform, which consists of hardware, software and diagnostic components: the Cue Health Monitoring System, which is made up of a portable, durable and reusable reader, or Cue Reader, a single-use test cartridge, or Cue Cartridge, and a sample collection wand, or Cue Wand; Cue Data and Innovation Layer, with cloud-based data and analytics capability; Cue Virtual Care Delivery Apps, including its app and Cue Enterprise Dashboard, and its Cue Ecosystem Integrations and apps, which allow for integrations with third party applications and sensors. Its products include Cue Reader, COVID-19 Test, Cue Test Kits, Cue Care, and Cue+ Membership. It offers solutions for home/personal, business, public sector, healthcare, retail pharmacies, entertainment and education sectors.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Cue Health Inc has a Value Score of 96, which is considered to be undervalued.

Cue Health Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Cue Health Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.26.

You can read more about Cue Health Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

MicroCloud Hologram Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

MicroCloud Hologram Inc. is a holographic digitalization technology service provider in China. The Company is focused on providing holographic technology services to customers around the world. The Company operates through two segments: Holographic solutions and Holographic technology services. The Company?s holographic technology services include holographic light detection and ranging (LiDAR) solutions, based on holographic technology, holographic LiDAR point cloud algorithms architecture design, technical holographic imaging solutions, holographic LiDAR sensor chip design and holographic vehicle intelligent vision technology to service customers that provide reliable holographic advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). It also provides holographic digital twin technology services for customers and has built a holographic digital twin technology resource library. It provides a range of holographic technology services in the holographic industry.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

MicroCloud Hologram Inc has a Value Score of 100, which is considered to be undervalued.

MicroCloud Hologram Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make MicroCloud Hologram Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.26.

You can read more about MicroCloud Hologram Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Katapult Holdings Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Katapult Holdings, Inc. is a technology driven lease-to-own platform company. It integrates with omni-channel retailers and e-commerce platforms to power the purchase of everyday durable goods for underserved United States. Its lease-purchase platform offers consumers an alternative to traditional financing of home furnishings, automotive goods, electronics, computers, and other durable goods. The Company?s Katapult Pay is a one-time use virtual card technology that makes lease purchasing simple and intuitive for its customers. Using the Katapult Pay feature on its mobile app customers can complete a lease transaction and check out with a one-time use virtual card to facilitate the payment. It provides merchants with insightful analytics that help them understand performance and activity associated with non-prime applications. The platform also offers other key insights into customers shopping habits to help merchants optimize customer conversion and customer acquisition costs.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Katapult Holdings Inc has a Value Score of 87, which is considered to be undervalued.

You can read more about Katapult Holdings Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

PLAYSTUDIOS Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. is a developer of free-to-play casual games for mobile and social platforms. The Company's game portfolio includes a diverse range of titles, from social casino and card games to puzzle and adventure games. It operates in two segments: playGAMES and playAWARDS. playGAMES segment is a developer and publisher of digital games on mobile and Web platforms. The COmpany operates primarily in the social gaming market, which is characterized by gameplay online or on mobile devices, that is social, competitive, and self-directed in pace and session length. playGAMES also operate in the casual space. playAWARDS segment consists of all of its loyalty assets globally in which it is engaged in developing an end-to-end loyalty solution to help clients reward, enrich, motivate and retain customers, including program design, points management and administration, and broad-based fulfillment and redemption across multiple channels.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

PLAYSTUDIOS Inc has a Value Score of 70, which is considered to be undervalued.

PLAYSTUDIOS Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make PLAYSTUDIOS Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.26.

You can read more about PLAYSTUDIOS Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Smith Micro Software Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Smith Micro Software, Inc. develops software to simplify and enhance the mobile experience, providing solutions to wireless service providers around the world. It operates through the Wireless segment. From enabling the family digital lifestyle to providing voice messaging capabilities, its solutions enhance connected lifestyles while creating new opportunities to engage consumers via smartphones and consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Its portfolio also includes a range of products for creating, sharing, and monetizing content, such as visual voice messaging, optimizing retail content display and performing analytics on any product set. Its products include SafePath, ViewSpot, and CommSuite. SafePath consists of SafePath Family, SafePath IoT, SafePath Home, and SafePath Premium. The SafePath product suite provides tools to protect family digital lifestyles and manage connected devices both inside and outside the home. ViewSpot is its retail display management platform.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Smith Micro Software Inc has a Value Score of 70, which is considered to be undervalued.

Smith Micro Software Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Smith Micro Software Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.26.

You can read more about Smith Micro Software Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Treasure Global Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Treasure Global Inc. is a holding company, which is engaged in developing technology platforms. The Company has created an online-to-offline (O2O) e-commerce platform business model offering consumers and merchants instant rebates and affiliate cashback programs, while providing an e-payment solution with rebates in both e-commerce and physical retailers/merchant settings. It operates through its subsidiaries, namely ZCity Sdn. Bhd. (ZCITY); AY Food Ventures Sdn Bhd; Morgan Global Sdn. Bhd, and Foodlink Global Sdn Bhd. ZCity Sdn. Bhd. owns all intellectual property rights to copyrightable, patentable, and other protectable intangible assets relating to its business, including trademarks. Its proprietary product is an Internet application (or App) branded ZCITY App, which is developed through its wholly owned subsidiary, ZCITY. The ZCITY App targets consumers through the provision of personalized deals based on consumers purchase history, location, and preferences.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Treasure Global Inc has a Value Score of 68, which is considered to be undervalued.

Treasure Global Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Treasure Global Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.26.

You can read more about Treasure Global Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Software Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Software stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 7 Best Software Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Youdao Inc - ADR stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Cue Health Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• MicroCloud Hologram Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Katapult Holdings Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• PLAYSTUDIOS Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Smith Micro Software Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Treasure Global Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 7 undervalued stocks in the Software industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Software Stocks

Want to learn more about Software stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 7 Undervalued Software Stocks for Monday, April 15
• 6 Undervalued Software Stocks for Friday, April 12
• Why American Software, Inc.’s (AMSWA) Stock Is Down 5.86%
• Why C3.ai Inc’s (AI) Stock Is Down 5.24%

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.