Reviewing Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) & Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Ceva has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qualcomm has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Ceva and Qualcomm, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ceva	1	1	8	0	2.70
Qualcomm	4	16	14	0	2.29

Ceva currently has a consensus price target of $39.44, indicating a potential upside of 8.04%. Qualcomm has a consensus price target of $180.37, indicating a potential downside of 10.48%. Given Ceva’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Ceva is more favorable than Qualcomm.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ceva and Qualcomm”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ceva	$109.60 million	9.28	-$10.64 million	($0.45)	-81.13
Qualcomm	$44.28 billion	4.80	$5.54 billion	$9.20	21.90

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

Profitability

This table compares Ceva and Qualcomm’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ceva	-10.47%	-3.42%	-2.98%
Qualcomm	22.31%	42.11%	19.33%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.4% of Ceva shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.4% of Qualcomm shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Ceva shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Qualcomm shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Qualcomm beats Ceva on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ceva

CEVA, Inc. provides silicon and software IP solutions to semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies worldwide. Its 5G mobile and infrastructure products include Ceva-XC vector digital signal processors (DSPs) for 5G handsets, 5G RAN, and general-purpose baseband processing; PentaG-RAN, an open ran platform for base station and radio; and PentaG2 – 5G NR modem platform for UE, as well as for non-handset 5G vertical markets, such as fixed wireless access, industry 4.0, robotics, and AR/VR devices. The company’s wireless IoT products comprise RivieraWaves’ Bluetooth 5dual mode and low energy platforms, RivieraWaves’ Wi-Fi platforms, ultra-wide band platforms, and Cellular IoT and RedCap platforms, as well as sense and inference processors and platforms consist of NeuPro-M neural processing unit (NPU) family; SensPro2 sensor hub AI platforms addressing imaging, vision, powertrain, and applications, including DSP processors, AI accelerators, and a software portfolio; and Ceva-BX1 and Ceva-BX2 audio AI DSPs. Its sensing and audio software comprise RealSpace spatial audio software package; WhisPro speech recognition; ClearVox, a voice front-end software package for voice-enabled devices; and CDNN, a neural network graph compiler that enables AI developers to automatically compile, optimize, and run pre-trained networks onto embedded devices. The company’s application software IP are licensed primarily to OEMs who embed it in their system on chip designs. It delivers AI DSPs and NPUs in the form of a hardware description language definition; and offers development platforms, software development kits, and software debug tools, which facilitate system design, debug, and software development. The company licenses its technology through a direct sales force. CEVA, Inc. was formerly known as ParthusCeva, Inc. and changed its name to CEVA, Inc. in December 2003. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, computing, multimedia, and position location products. The QTL segment grants licenses or provides rights to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio, which include various patent rights useful in the manufacture and sale of wireless products comprising products implementing CDMA2000, WCDMA, LTE and/or OFDMA-based 5G standards and their derivatives. The QSI segment invests in early-stage companies in various industries, including 5G, artificial intelligence, automotive, consumer, enterprise, cloud, IoT, and extended reality, and investments, including non-marketable equity securities and, to a lesser extent, marketable equity securities, and convertible debt instruments. It also provides development, and other services and related products to the United States government agencies and their contractors. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.