In today's first round matchup of The Motley Fool Better-Buy Tournament, Groupon squares off against Atwood Oceanics in a battle to determine which stock is the better buy now. The 64-company tournament pits two Motley Fool analysts against each other as they make the case for their stocks, with the winner determined by you, the readers.
Motley Fool Consumer Goods Editor Mark Reeth thinks daily deal specialist Groupon (GRPN +0.98%) is about to see a lot of growth thanks to the development of its Groupon Goods marketplace. There are only a few thousand items for sale in the marketplace, but as Groupon guides more users to the service it will be sure to add more items to the shelves. Getting users to the marketplace shouldn't be that hard for the company since half of all users accessed the site through mobile devices, meaning they don't have to be in front of a computer to make a purchase. Between that and the company's stronger balance sheet thanks to decreased SG&A costs, Groupon looks like a great growth pick.
Motley Fool energy analyst Taylor Muckerman thinks offshore driller Atwood Oceanics (ATW +0.00%) should move on to the next round because of its prudent growth strategy with CEO Rob Saltiel at the helm. Saltiel comes from Transocean, the largest offshore driller in the business. He seems to have learned from that company's growing pains and is doing a good job of avoiding them at Atwood. With the promise of long-term growth in the offshore industry, Atwood is a prime-time investing selection.
Watch these analysts square off in the video below and then vote for a winner. Then check out the other companies in the Motley Fool Better-Buy Bracket.
This year's winning stock?
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Cast your vote in the poll below the video!
