Analyzing Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) & Aeluma (NASDAQ:ALMU)

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) and Aeluma (NASDAQ:ALMU) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Photronics has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aeluma has a beta of 4.07, suggesting that its share price is 307% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Photronics and Aeluma”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Photronics	$849.29 million	2.11	$136.40 million	$2.84	10.71
Aeluma	$4.46 million	60.06	-$9.16 million	($0.52)	-26.73

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Photronics and Aeluma, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Photronics	0	2	3	1	2.83
Aeluma	1	0	3	1	2.80

Photronics presently has a consensus target price of $49.33, suggesting a potential upside of 62.17%. Aeluma has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 79.86%. Given Aeluma’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aeluma is more favorable than Photronics.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.4% of Photronics shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Photronics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.7% of Aeluma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Photronics and Aeluma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Photronics	19.05%	7.45%	6.53%
Aeluma	-205.31%	-18.14%	-17.20%

Summary

Photronics beats Aeluma on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates. The company offers electrical and optical components. It sells its products to semiconductor and FPD manufacturers, designers, and foundries, as well as to other high-performance electronics manufacturers through its sales personnel and customer service representatives. The company was formerly known as Photronic Labs, Inc. and changed its name to Photronics, Inc. in 1990. Photronics, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is based in Brookfield, Connecticut.

About Aeluma

Aeluma, Inc. develops optoelectronic and electronic devices in the United States. The company manufactures semiconductor materials and chips using compound semiconductors on diameter substrates that are used to manufacture mass market microelectronics. It offers its devices for use in mobile, automotive, AI, defence and aerospace, communication, AR/VR, and HPC applications, as well as laser emitters, transistors for integrated circuits, quantum photonic circuits, and solar cells applications. Aeluma, Inc. was formerly known as Parc Investments, Inc. and changed its name to Aeluma, Inc. June 2021. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Goleta, California.