Rogers (NYSE:ROG) versus nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Critical Review

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) and Rogers (NYSE:ROG) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares nLight and Rogers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
nLight	-4.02%	-2.83%	-2.26%
Rogers	3.75%	5.17%	4.31%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares nLight and Rogers”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
nLight	$261.33 million	8.91	-$23.47 million	($0.25)	-161.48
Rogers	$834.80 million	2.92	-$61.80 million	$1.75	77.90

nLight has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Rogers. nLight is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rogers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

nLight has a beta of 2.3, meaning that its share price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rogers has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for nLight and Rogers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
nLight	1	1	8	1	2.82
Rogers	0	2	1	0	2.33

nLight presently has a consensus price target of $87.94, indicating a potential upside of 117.83%. Rogers has a consensus price target of $200.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.70%. Given nLight’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe nLight is more favorable than Rogers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.9% of nLight shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Rogers shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of nLight shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Rogers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

nLight beats Rogers on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.

About Rogers

Rogers Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of engineered materials and components worldwide. It operates through Advanced Electronics Solutions (AES), Elastomeric Material Solutions (EMS), and Other segments. The AES segment offers circuit materials, ceramic substrate materials, busbars, and cooling solutions for applications in electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV/HEV), wireless infrastructure, automotive, renewable energy, aerospace and defense, mass transit, industrial, connected devices, and wired infrastructure. This segment sells its products under the curamik, ROLINX, RO4000, RO3000, RT/duroid, CLTE Series, TMM, AD Series, DiClad, CuClad Series, Kappa, COOLSPAN, TC Series, IsoClad, MAGTREX, IM, 2929 Bondply, SpeedWave Prepreg, RO4400/RO4400T, and Radix names. The EMS segment provides engineered material solutions, including polyurethane and silicone materials used in cushioning, gasketing, sealing, and vibration management applications; customized silicones used in flex heater and semiconductor thermal applications; and polytetrafluoroethylene and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene materials used in wire and cable protection, electrical insulation, conduction and shielding, hose and belt protection, vibration management, cushioning, gasketing and sealing, and venting applications. This segment sells its products under the PORON, BISCO, DeWAL, ARLON, eSorba, XRD, Silicone Engineering, and R/bak names. The Other segment provides elastomer components; and elastomer floats for level sensing in fuel tanks, motors, and storage tanks for applications in the general industrial and automotive markets under the ENDUR and NITROPHYL names. The company was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona.