Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:MAXN) vs. KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Head to Head Comparison

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Maxeon Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:MAXN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares KLA and Maxeon Solar Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KLA	$13.58 billion	16.44	$4.83 billion	$3.67	46.56
Maxeon Solar Technologies	$176.41 million	0.07	-$614.30 million	($163.07)	-0.00

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for KLA and Maxeon Solar Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KLA	0	9	19	1	2.72
Maxeon Solar Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00

KLA presently has a consensus price target of $222.22, indicating a potential upside of 30.05%. Given KLA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe KLA is more favorable than Maxeon Solar Technologies.

Risk and Volatility

KLA has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Maxeon Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.7% of KLA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.7% of Maxeon Solar Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 91.5% of KLA shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Maxeon Solar Technologies shares are held 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 KLA and Maxeon Solar Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KLA	35.57%	87.66%	29.23%
Maxeon Solar Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

KLA beats Maxeon Solar Technologies on 15 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection. The company offers inspection and review tools to identify, locate, characterize, review, and analyze defects on various surfaces of patterned and unpatterned wafers; metrology systems that are used to measure pattern dimensions, film thickness, film stress, layer-to-layer alignment, pattern placement, surface topography, and electro-optical properties for wafers; chemical process control equipment; wired and wireless sensor wafers and reticles; wafer defect inspection, review, and metrology systems; reticle inspection and metrology systems; and semiconductor software solutions that provide run-time process control, defect excursion identification, process corrections, and defect classification to accelerate yield learning rates and reduce production risk. It also provides etch, plasma dicing, deposition, and other wafer processing technologies and solutions for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. In addition, the company offers direct imaging, inspection, optical shaping, inkjet and additive printing, UV laser drilling, and computer-aided manufacturing and engineering solutions for the PCB market; inspection and electrical testing systems to identify and classify defects, as well as systems to repair defects for the display market; and inspection and metrology systems for quality control and yield improvement in advanced and traditional semiconductor packaging markets. The company was formerly known as KLA-Tencor Corporation and changed its name to KLA Corporation in July 2019. KLA Corporation was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

About Maxeon Solar Technologies

Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. designs, manufactures, markets, and sells solar panels and related solar system components worldwide. The company provides interdigitated back contact and shingled solar cells and panels under the SunPower brand. It offers its products to dealers, project developers, system integrators, distributors, resellers, and residential and small-scale commercial customers. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Singapore.