Reviewing Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) and AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and AXT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Solar Technologies	$80,000.00	301.97	-$7.83 million	($1.48)	-1.66
AXT	$88.33 million	64.33	-$21.26 million	$0.02	4,333.00

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

Profitability

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and AXT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Solar Technologies	-4,217.19%	-85.21%	-64.83%
AXT	3.23%	0.96%	0.70%

Volatility and Risk

Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXT has a beta of 1.86, meaning that its stock price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ascent Solar Technologies and AXT, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Solar Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00
AXT	1	2	3	0	2.33

Ascent Solar Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 713.01%. AXT has a consensus price target of $77.00, indicating a potential downside of 11.15%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than AXT.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of AXT shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of AXT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

AXT beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascent Solar Technologies

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.

About AXT

AXT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging. It also provides semi-insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates for use in Wi-Fi and IoT devices, transistors, direct broadcast television, power amplifiers, satellite communications, and solar cells; and semi-conducting GaAs substrates that are used in LEDs, screen displays using micro-LEDs, printer head lasers and LEDs, 3-D sensing using VCSELs, data center communication using VCSELs, sensors for industrial robotics/near-infrared sensors, optical couplers, solar cells, night vision goggles, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and other lasers, as well as laser machining, cutting, and drilling. In addition, the company offers germanium substrates for use in multi-junction solar cells for satellites, optical sensors and detectors, terrestrial concentrated photo voltaic cells, infrared detectors, and carrier wafer for LED. Further, it provides 6N+ and 7N+ purified gallium, boron trioxide, gallium-magnesium alloy, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles, and pBN insulating parts. It sells its products through direct salesforce in the United States, China, and Europe, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and internationally. The company was formerly known as American Xtal Technology, Inc. and changed its name to AXT, Inc. in July 2000. AXT, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.