Critical Analysis: Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) and Rohm (OTCMKTS:ROHCY)

Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) and Rohm (OTCMKTS:ROHCY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.8% of Atomera shares are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of Atomera shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Atomera and Rohm, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atomera	1	0	0	0	1.00
Rohm	0	1	1	0	2.50

Risk & Volatility

Atomera has a beta of 2.05, suggesting that its share price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rohm has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atomera	$60,000.00	4,547.66	-$20.17 million	($0.65)	-10.84
Rohm	$3.20 billion	4.16	-$1.05 billion	($2.64)	-13.05

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

Profitability

This table compares Atomera and Rohm’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atomera	N/A	-84.79%	-75.99%
Rohm	-31.42%	3.55%	2.20%

Summary

Atomera beats Rohm on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atomera

Atomera Incorporated engages in the developing, commercializing, and licensing proprietary processes and technologies for the semiconductor industry in North America and the Asia Pacific. The company's lead technology is the Mears Silicon Technology, a thin film of reengineered silicon that can be applied as a transistor channel enhancement to CMOS-type transistors. Its customers include foundries, integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and electronic design automation companies. The company was formerly known as Mears Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Atomera Incorporated in January 2016. Atomera Incorporated was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.

About Rohm

ROHM Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. The company operates through three segments: LSI, Semiconductor Devices, and Modules. It provides ICs comprising memory, amplifiers and linear, power management, motor/actuator drivers, resistors, clocks and timers, switches and multiplexers, logic, data converters, sensors and MEMS, display drivers, interfaces, wireless LSIs, audio and video products, speech synthesis LSI, and microcontrollers. The company also offers discrete semiconductor products, such as MOSFETs, bipolar transistors, and diodes; power devices, including power transistors and diodes, SiC power devices, IGBT, and IPM; modules, including optical modules, wireless communication modules, wireless charger modules, and print heads; and opto devices comprising LEDs, LED displays, laser diodes, and optical sensors, as well as foundry services, including thin-film piezoelectric MEMS, wafers, and WL-CSP. Its products are used in industry, automotive, consumer electronics, and telecommunications applications. The company was incorporated in 1940 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.