nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) & Tokyo Electron (OTC:TOELY) Head-To-Head Analysis

Tokyo Electron (OTC:TOELY) and nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Tokyo Electron and nLIGHT, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tokyo Electron	0	0	0	1	4.00
nLIGHT	0	0	5	0	3.00

nLIGHT has a consensus price target of $14.90, suggesting a potential upside of 27.90%. Given nLIGHT’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe nLIGHT is more favorable than Tokyo Electron.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.3% of Tokyo Electron shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.9% of nLIGHT shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of nLIGHT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Tokyo Electron and nLIGHT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tokyo Electron	22.63%	28.75%	20.52%
nLIGHT	-24.16%	-19.53%	-15.91%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tokyo Electron and nLIGHT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tokyo Electron	$12.33 billion	5.80	$2.51 billion	$3.87	20.04
nLIGHT	$198.55 million	2.90	-$41.67 million	($1.26)	-9.25

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

Volatility and Risk

Tokyo Electron has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, nLIGHT has a beta of 2.02, meaning that its stock price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Tokyo Electron beats nLIGHT on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tokyo Electron

Tokyo Electron Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and flat panel display (FPD) production equipment in Japan, Europe, North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and internationally. The company offers coaters/developers, etch systems, surface preparation systems, deposition systems, test systems, wafer bonders/debonders, wafer edge trimming, SiC epitaxial CVD systems, gas cluster ion beam system, and cleaning systems. It also provides plasma etch/ash systems for use in the manufacture of FPDs, as well as inkjet printing systems for manufacturing OLED displays. In addition, the company offers delivery, facility management, and non-life insurance services; sells semiconductor products, board computer products, software, and other electronic components; sells and supports network/storage/middleware related solutions; and develops, manufactures, and sells magnetic annealing systems. Tokyo Electron Limited was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About nLIGHT

nLIGHT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.