Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI – Get Free Report) and ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.
Volatility and Risk
Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ACM Research has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and ACM Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ascent Solar Technologies | -4,217.19% | -85.21% | -64.83% |
| ACM Research | 14.48% | 4.08% | 2.80% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ascent Solar Technologies | $80,000.00 | 344.93 | -$7.83 million | ($1.48) | -1.90 |
| ACM Research | $901.31 million | 5.02 | $94.08 million | $2.10 | 33.35 |
ACM Research has higher revenue and earnings than Ascent Solar Technologies. Ascent Solar Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ACM Research, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Ascent Solar Technologies and ACM Research, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ascent Solar Technologies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| ACM Research | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3.17 |
Ascent Solar Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 611.74%. ACM Research has a consensus price target of $122.75, indicating a potential upside of 75.26%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than ACM Research.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of ACM Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.4% of ACM Research shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
ACM Research beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ascent Solar Technologies
Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.
About ACM Research
ACM Research, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells single-wafer wet cleaning equipment for enhancing the manufacturing process and yield for integrated chips worldwide. It offers space alternated phase shift technology for flat and patterned wafer surfaces, which employs alternating phases of megasonic waves to deliver megasonic energy in a uniform manner on a microscopic level; timely energized bubble oscillation technology for patterned wafer surfaces at advanced process nodes, which provides cleaning for 2D and 3D patterned wafers; Tahoe technology for delivering cleaning performance using less sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide; and electro-chemical plating technology for advanced metal plating. The company markets and sells its products under the SAPS, TEBO, ULTRA C, ULTRA Fn, Ultra ECP, Ultra ECP map, and Ultra ECP ap trademarks through direct sales force and third-party representatives. ACM Research, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.
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