Solar Thin Films (OTCMKTS:SLTZ) and JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) Critical Comparison

JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) and Solar Thin Films (OTCMKTS:SLTZ) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for JinkoSolar and Solar Thin Films, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JinkoSolar	4	3	0	0	1.43
Solar Thin Films	0	0	0	0	0.00

JinkoSolar presently has a consensus target price of $19.49, suggesting a potential downside of 27.42%. Given Solar Thin Films’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Solar Thin Films is more favorable than JinkoSolar.

Profitability

This table compares JinkoSolar and Solar Thin Films’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JinkoSolar	-4.98%	-8.96%	-2.19%
Solar Thin Films	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.8% of JinkoSolar shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of JinkoSolar shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Solar Thin Films shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares JinkoSolar and Solar Thin Films”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JinkoSolar	$68.64 billion	0.02	$7.47 million	($9.15)	-2.93
Solar Thin Films	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

JinkoSolar has higher revenue and earnings than Solar Thin Films.

About JinkoSolar

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; solar power generation and solar system EPC services; and energy storage system, as well as undertakes solar power projects. The company sells its products to distributors, project developers, system integrators, and manufacturers of solar power products under the JinkoSolar brand. As of December 31, 2023, it had an integrated annual capacity of 85 gigawatts (GW) for mono wafers; 90 GW for solar cells; and 110 GW for solar modules. It operates in China, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan, Vietnam, Egypt, Spain, Germany, and internationally. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shangrao, the People's Republic of China.

About Solar Thin Films

Solar Thin Films, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and installs thin-film amorphous silicon photovoltaic manufacturing equipment used in plants that produce photovoltaic thin-film a-Si solar panels or modules. The company serves businesses and investment partnerships engaged in the production of photovoltaic thin-film modules; and corporations and governments involved in the construction of solar power plants principally in the United States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and Asia. Solar Thin Films, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in New York, New York.