Comparing Generac (NYSE:GNRC) and Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT)

Generac (NYSE:GNRC) and Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Generac has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its share price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nextpower has a beta of 1.94, suggesting that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.0% of Generac shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of Nextpower shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Generac shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Nextpower shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Generac and Nextpower”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Generac	$4.21 billion	2.94	$159.55 million	$5.05	41.46
Nextpower	$3.56 billion	4.09	$585.88 million	$3.97	24.19

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Generac and Nextpower, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Generac	0	7	13	2	2.77
Nextpower	0	4	23	1	2.89

Generac presently has a consensus target price of $290.41, suggesting a potential upside of 38.70%. Nextpower has a consensus target price of $135.58, suggesting a potential upside of 41.20%. Given Nextpower’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nextpower is more favorable than Generac.

Profitability

This table compares Generac and Nextpower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Generac	6.52%	18.78%	9.12%
Nextpower	15.98%	26.13%	15.16%

Summary

Nextpower beats Generac on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Generac

Generac Holdings Inc. designs, manufactures, and distributes various energy technology products and solution worldwide. The company offers residential automatic standby generators, automatic transfer switch, air-cooled engine residential standby generators, and liquid-cooled engine generators; Mobile Link, a remote monitoring system for home standby generators; residential storage solution, which consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, photovoltaic optimizers, power electronic controls, and other components; smart home solutions, such as smart thermostats and a suite of home monitoring products. It also provides smart home energy management devices and sensors for heating and cooling system; smart doorbell cameras; and portable and inverter generators; multiple portable battery solutions; manual transfer switches; outdoor power equipment, including trimmers, field and brush mowers, log splitters, stump grinders, chipper shredders, lawn and leaf vacuums, and pressure washers and water pumps; and battery-powered turf care products. In addition, the company offers commercial and industrial products comprising cleaner-burning natural gas fueled generators; light-commercial standby generators and related transfer switches; stationary generators; single-engine industrial generators; industrial standby generators; industrial transfer switches; light towers, mobile generators, commercial mobile pumps, heaters, dust-suppression equipment, and mobile energy storage systems; stationary energy storage system and related inverter products; and aftermarket service parts and product accessories. The company distributes its products through independent residential dealers, industrial distributors and dealers, national and regional retailers, e-commerce partners, electrical/HVAC/solar wholesalers, solar installers, catalogs, equipment rental companies, and other equipment distributors; and directly to end users. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

About Nextpower

Nextpower, formerly known as Nextracker, an energy solutions company, provides solar trackers and software solutions for utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects in the United States and internationally. The company offers tracking solutions, which includes NX Horizon, a solar tracking solution; and NX Horizon-XTR, a terrain-following tracker designed to expand the addressable market for trackers on sites with sloped, uneven, and challenging terrain. It also provides TrueCapture, a self-adjusting tracker control system, which boosts solar power plant production by optimizing the position of individual tracker row in response to site features, such as varying topography and changing weather conditions; and NX Navigator, that assists solar power plant owners and operators in monitoring, controlling, and protecting their solar projects. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Fremont, California. As of March 31, 2024 Nextracker Inc. (Nextpower) was formerly a subsidiary of Flex Ltd.