Comparing Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.0% of Nova shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Micron Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Nova shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Micron Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nova and Micron Technology”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nova	$880.58 million	11.30	$259.22 million	$8.08	38.76
Micron Technology	$133.19 billion	5.86	$84.97 billion	$74.21	9.30

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

Profitability

This table compares Nova and Micron Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nova	28.84%	21.41%	11.95%
Micron Technology	63.80%	92.62%	66.29%

Volatility & Risk

Nova has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Micron Technology has a beta of 2.36, suggesting that its stock price is 136% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Nova and Micron Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nova	0	4	6	0	2.60
Micron Technology	0	4	41	1	2.93

Nova presently has a consensus target price of $470.00, suggesting a potential upside of 50.07%. Micron Technology has a consensus target price of $1,407.88, suggesting a potential upside of 104.04%. Given Micron Technology’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Micron Technology is more favorable than Nova.

Summary

Micron Technology beats Nova on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging. The company serves various sectors of the integrated circuit manufacturing industry, including logic, foundries, and memory manufacturers, as well as process equipment manufacturers. Nova Ltd. was formerly known as Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. and changed its name to Nova Ltd. in July 2021. Nova Ltd. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel.

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels. The company offers memory products for the cloud server, enterprise, client, graphics, networking, industrial, and automotive markets, as well as for smartphone and other mobile-device markets; SSDs and component-level solutions for the enterprise and cloud, client, and consumer storage markets; discrete storage products in component and wafers; and memory and storage products for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. It markets its products through its direct sales force, independent sales representatives, distributors, and retailers; and web-based customer direct sales channel, as well as through channel and distribution partners. Micron Technology, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.