One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS) & Trans-Lux (OTCMKTS:TNLX) Head-To-Head Comparison

One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS) and Trans-Lux (OTCMKTS:TNLX) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.7% of One Stop Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.9% of Trans-Lux shares are held by institutional investors. 13.6% of One Stop Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 58.7% of Trans-Lux shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for One Stop Systems and Trans-Lux, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
One Stop Systems	1	0	3	0	2.50
Trans-Lux	0	0	0	0	0.00

One Stop Systems currently has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.46%. Given One Stop Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe One Stop Systems is more favorable than Trans-Lux.

Profitability

This table compares One Stop Systems and Trans-Lux’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
One Stop Systems	-11.47%	-26.14%	-17.67%
Trans-Lux	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

One Stop Systems has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trans-Lux has a beta of -0.58, meaning that its stock price is 158% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares One Stop Systems and Trans-Lux”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
One Stop Systems	$54.69 million	3.22	-$13.63 million	($0.32)	-22.44
Trans-Lux	$15.55 million	N/A	-$4.07 million	($0.33)	-0.18

Trans-Lux has lower revenue, but higher earnings than One Stop Systems. One Stop Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Trans-Lux, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

One Stop Systems beats Trans-Lux on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About One Stop Systems

One Stop Systems, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of high-performance compute, high speed storage hardware and software, switch fabrics, and systems for edge deployments in the United States and internationally. The company's systems are built using the central processing unit, graphical processing unit, high-speed switch fabrics, and flash storage technologies. It provides custom servers, data acquisition platforms, compute accelerators, solid-state storage arrays, and system I/O expansion systems, as well as edge optimized industrial and panel PCs, tablets, and handheld compute devices. The company also offers ruggedized mobile tablets and handhelds that meet the specialized requirement for devices deployed at the edge in a diverse set of environmental conditions. It sells its products to multinational companies, governmental agencies, military contractors, military services, and technology providers through its website, web store, direct sales team, and original equipment manufacturer focused sales, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Escondido, California.

About Trans-Lux

Trans-Lux Corporation engages in the design and manufacture of digital display solutions and fixed digit scoreboards. It operates in two segments, Digital Product Sales; and Digital Product Lease and Maintenance. The Digital Product Sales segment sells indoor and outdoor digital product signage products. The Digital Product Lease and Maintenance segment is involved in the lease and maintenance of indoor and outdoor digital product signage. The company offers LED display systems for use by sports arenas and stadiums; financial institutions, including brokerage firms, banks, energy companies, insurance companies, and mutual fund companies; educational institutions; outdoor advertising companies; corporate and government communication centers; retail outlets; casinos, racetracks and other gaming establishments; airports, train stations, bus terminals, and other transportation facilities; movie theatres; and health maintenance organizations, as well as in various other applications. It also provides TLVision, which consists of full-color video products for use in posting alphanumeric data and displaying of full HD video; and turnkey installation and support services. The company markets its products through direct sales representatives, and a network of independent dealers and distributors in the United States and Canada; and internal salespeople and independent distributors in the rest of North America, Europe, the Middle East, South America, Africa, the Far East, and Australia. Trans-Lux Corporation was incorporated in 1920 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Trans-Lux Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Unilumin North America Inc.