Sanmina (NASDAQ:SANM – Get Free Report) and nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Sanmina and nLight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Sanmina | 2.41% | 19.08% | 5.75% |
| nLight | -4.02% | -2.83% | -2.26% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
92.7% of Sanmina shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.9% of nLight shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Sanmina shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of nLight shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Sanmina and nLight”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Sanmina | $8.13 billion | 1.43 | $245.89 million | $5.59 | 38.91 |
| nLight | $261.33 million | 8.49 | -$23.47 million | ($0.25) | -153.92 |
Sanmina has higher revenue and earnings than nLight. nLight is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sanmina, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Sanmina and nLight, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Sanmina | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
| nLight | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 2.83 |
Sanmina presently has a consensus target price of $198.33, suggesting a potential downside of 8.81%. nLight has a consensus target price of $86.50, suggesting a potential upside of 124.79%. Given nLight’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe nLight is more favorable than Sanmina.
Summary
Sanmina beats nLight on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Sanmina
Sanmina Corporation provides integrated manufacturing solutions, components, products and repair, logistics, and after-market services worldwide. It operates in two businesses, Integrated Manufacturing Solutions; and Components, Products and Services. The company offers product design and engineering, including concept development, detailed design, prototyping, validation, preproduction, manufacturing design release, and product industrialization; assembly and test services; direct order fulfillment and logistics services; after-market product service and support; and supply chain management services, as well as engages in the manufacturing of components, subassemblies, and complete systems. In addition, the company provides components, such as printed circuit boards, backplane and backplane assemblies, cable assemblies, fabricated metal parts, precision machined parts, and plastic injected molded parts; memory solutions; storage platforms; optical, radio frequency, and microelectronic solutions; defense and aerospace product, design, manufacturing, repair, and refurbishment services; and cloud-based manufacturing execution software. It offers its products and services primarily to original equipment manufacturers in the industrial, medical, defense and aerospace, automotive, communications networks, and cloud solutions. Sanmina Corporation was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
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.
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