Socket Mobile (SCKT) and Its Peers Critical Comparison

Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT) is one of 378 publicly-traded companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Socket Mobile to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Socket Mobile has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Socket Mobile’s competitors have a beta of -0.21, meaning that their average share price is 121% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.8% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by institutional investors. 54.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.4% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Socket Mobile and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Socket Mobile	-107.50%	-229.41%	-89.45%
Socket Mobile Competitors	-184.62%	-150.57%	-6.97%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Socket Mobile and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Socket Mobile	1	0	0	0	1.00
Socket Mobile Competitors	1986	7500	10214	625	2.47

As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 19.86%. Given Socket Mobile’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Socket Mobile has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Socket Mobile and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Socket Mobile	$15.08 million	-$14.38 million	-0.33
Socket Mobile Competitors	$4.02 billion	$191.02 million	-6.48

Socket Mobile’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Socket Mobile. Socket Mobile is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Socket Mobile competitors beat Socket Mobile on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Socket Mobile

Socket Mobile, Inc. provides data capture and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its products and solutions are integrated into mobile applications for applications in the areas of point of sale, commercial services, asset tracking, manufacturing and quality control processes, transportation and logistics, event management, medical, and education. The company also offers cordless data capture devices that connect through Bluetooth and work with applications running on smartphones, mobile computers, and tablets; SocketScan and DuraScan 700 series, companion scanners and 800 series, attachable scanners, and wearables; and DuraSled, a barcode scanning sled that protects phones from impact damage and provides charging solutions. In addition, it offers D600, a handheld model to reads and writes various types of electronic SmartTags and transfers data with near-field communication (NFC); S550, a contactless membership card reader/writer; and S370 product that supports barcode scanning, and NFC reading and writing technologies. Further, the company provides SocketCam C820 and C860, which are camera-based barcode scanners; software developer kits, such as CaptureSDK that enables the App providers to modify captured data, control the placement of the barcoded or RFID data in their applications, and control the feedback to the user. It serves retail, commercial services, industrial and manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare industries through a network of distributors, online resellers, and application providers, as well as online stores. The company was formerly known as Socket Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Socket Mobile, Inc. in April 2008. Socket Mobile, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.