Head-To-Head Contrast: Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) and GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS)

GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS) and Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and Rambus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GCT Semiconductor	$2.87 million	30.43	-$43.37 million	($0.81)	-1.49
Rambus	$707.63 million	14.22	$230.46 million	$2.11	44.09

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for GCT Semiconductor and Rambus, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GCT Semiconductor	2	0	2	0	2.00
Rambus	0	3	5	2	2.90

GCT Semiconductor presently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 190.46%. Rambus has a consensus target price of $105.71, indicating a potential upside of 13.63%. Given GCT Semiconductor’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe GCT Semiconductor is more favorable than Rambus.

Risk and Volatility

GCT Semiconductor has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rambus has a beta of 1.63, suggesting that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and Rambus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GCT Semiconductor	-1,513.33%	N/A	-231.27%
Rambus	32.57%	17.69%	15.42%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.1% of GCT Semiconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of Rambus shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of GCT Semiconductor shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Rambus shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Rambus beats GCT Semiconductor on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GCT Semiconductor

GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc., operates as a fabless semiconductor company, designs, develops, and markets integrated circuits for the wireless semiconductor industry. The company provides RF and modem chipsets based on 4G LTE technology, including 4G LTE, 4.5G LTE Advanced, and 4.75G LTE Advanced-Pro. It also develops and sells cellular IoT chipsets for low-speed mobile networks such as eMTC/NB-IOT/Sigfox, and other network protocols; and 5G solutions. Its products and solutions are used in smartphones, tablets, hotspots, CPEs, USB dongles, routers, and M2M applications. The company sells its products directly or indirectly through distributors to original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers primarily in Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan, Europe, North America and South America. The company was formerly known as Global Communication Technology, Inc. GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Rambus

Rambus Inc. provides semiconductor products in the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and internationally. The company offers DDR memory interface chips, including DDR5 and DDR4 memory interface chips to module manufacturers, OEMs, and hyperscalers; silicon IP, such as interface and security IP solutions that move and protect data in advanced data center, government, and automotive applications; and interface IP solutions for high-speed memory and chip-to-chip digital controller IP. It also provides a portfolios of security IP solutions, including crypto cores, hardware roots of trust, high-speed protocol engines, and chip provisioning technologies; and portfolio of patents that covers memory architecture, high-speed serial links, and security products. It markets its products and services through its direct sales force and distributors. Rambus Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.