ClearOne (NASDAQ:CLRO) & Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Critical Review

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) and ClearOne (NASDAQ:CLRO) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Flex and ClearOne, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex	0	2	9	1	2.92
ClearOne	1	0	0	0	1.00

Flex currently has a consensus target price of $114.20, indicating a potential downside of 0.10%. Given Flex’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Flex is more favorable than ClearOne.

Risk and Volatility

Flex has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ClearOne has a beta of 0.16, meaning that its stock price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.3% of Flex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.6% of ClearOne shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Flex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of ClearOne shares are owned 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Flex and ClearOne”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex	$29.27 billion	1.44	$880.00 million	$2.59	44.14
ClearOne	$11.39 million	1.18	-$26.08 million	($1.15)	-4.36

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

Profitability

This table compares Flex and ClearOne’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex	3.32%	23.15%	5.50%
ClearOne	N/A	-209.91%	-118.38%

Summary

Flex beats ClearOne on 15 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flex

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices. Its FRS segment provides complex ramps with specialized production models and critical environments, which comprise automotive including next generation mobility, autonomous, connectivity, electrification, and smart technologies; health solutions, such as medical devices, medical equipment, and drug delivery; and industrial solutions including capital equipment, industrial devices, and renewables and grid edge. The Nextracker segment offers solar tracker and software solutions, which are used in utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects. In addition, it provides a broad array of services including design and engineering, component services, rapid prototyping, fulfillment, and circular economy solutions. The company was formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd. and changed its name to Flex Ltd. in September 2016. Flex Ltd. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About ClearOne

ClearOne, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and sells conferencing, collaboration, and network streaming solutions for voice and visual communications in the United States and internationally. The company offers a range of audio conferencing products, including professional audio conferencing and sound-reinforcement products for use in enterprise, healthcare, education and distance learning, government, legal, and finance organizations; mid-tier premium conferencing products for smaller rooms, and small and medium businesses, which interface with video and Web conferencing systems; USB-based personal and group speakerphones that could be used with PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other portable devices; and traditional tabletop conferencing phones used in conference rooms and offices. It provides professional microphones consisting of beamforming microphones, ceiling microphones, and wireless microphones. In addition, the company offers video products, such as video conferencing and collaboration solutions; professional-grade cameras; and AV networking, which deliver the IP A/V experience by streaming time sensitive high definition audio and video, and control over TCP/IP networks. It sells its commercial products to a network of independent professional audiovisual, information technology, and telecommunications distributors, as well as systems integrators, dealers, value-added resellers, and end-users. ClearOne, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.