Reviewing Acorn Energy (OTCMKTS:ACFN) and Tokyo Electron (OTCMKTS:TOELY)

Tokyo Electron (OTCMKTS:TOELY) and Acorn Energy (OTCMKTS:ACFN) 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, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Tokyo Electron has a beta of 1.88, indicating that its share price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acorn Energy has a beta of 0.1, indicating that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Tokyo Electron and Acorn Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tokyo Electron	0	0	0	1	4.00
Acorn Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Dividends

Tokyo Electron pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Acorn Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Tokyo Electron pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acorn Energy pays out 5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tokyo Electron and Acorn Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tokyo Electron	$15.97 billion	7.40	$3.59 billion	$3.94	32.57
Acorn Energy	$12.63 million	4.11	$6.29 million	$2.65	7.82

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.3% of Tokyo Electron shares are held by institutional investors. 35.1% of Acorn Energy shares are held by company 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 Acorn Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tokyo Electron	21.74%	28.36%	20.73%
Acorn Energy	56.00%	78.08%	28.31%

Summary

Tokyo Electron beats Acorn Energy 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 Acorn Energy

Acorn Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and markets wireless remote monitoring and control systems for various markets in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Power Generation (PG) Monitoring and Cathodic Protection (CP) Monitoring. The PG segment provides wireless remote monitoring and control systems, and services for critical assets, which include stand-by power generators, pumps, pumpjacks, light towers, turbines, compressors, fire pumps, and other industrial equipment; and Internet of Things applications. The CP segment offers remote monitoring and control products for cathodic protection systems utilized in gas pipelines for gas utilities market and pipeline operators. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.