Comparing Magnachip Semiconductor (NYSE:MX) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI)

Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) and Magnachip Semiconductor (NYSE:MX) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.3% of Magnachip Semiconductor shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Magnachip Semiconductor shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Magnachip Semiconductor”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Solar Technologies	$460,000.00	5.54	-$17.07 million	N/A	N/A
Magnachip Semiconductor	$219.52 million	0.62	-$36.62 million	($1.16)	-3.13

Ascent Solar Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Magnachip Semiconductor.

Risk & Volatility

Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 2.54, meaning that its stock price is 154% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Magnachip Semiconductor has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ascent Solar Technologies and Magnachip Semiconductor, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Solar Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00
Magnachip Semiconductor	0	1	2	0	2.67

Magnachip Semiconductor has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 106.33%. Given Magnachip Semiconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Magnachip Semiconductor is more favorable than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Solar Technologies	-28,235.93%	-1,360.73%	-157.70%
Magnachip Semiconductor	-20.08%	-14.31%	-10.89%

Summary

Magnachip Semiconductor beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 9 of the 12 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 Magnachip Semiconductor

Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, the Internet of Things, consumer, computing, industrial, and automotive applications. It provides display solutions, including source and gate drivers, and timing controllers that cover a range of flat panel displays used in mobile communications, automotive, entertainment devices, monitors, notebook PCs, tablet PC and TVs applied with liquid crystal display, organic light emitting diodes (OLED), and micro light emitting diode (Micro LED) panel. The company also offers metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors, insulated-gate bipolar transistors, AC-DC converters, DC-DC converters, LED drivers, regulators, and power management integrated circuits for a range of devices comprising televisions, smartphones, mobile phones, wearable devices, desktop PCs, notebooks, tablet PCs, and other consumer electronics, as well as for power suppliers, e-bikes, photovoltaic inverters, LED lighting, and motor drives; and OLED display driver integrated circuit products. It serves consumer, computing, communication, automotive and industrial electronics OEMs, original design manufacturers, and electronics manufacturing services companies, as well as subsystem designers in the Asia Pacific, the United States, and Europe. The company sells its products through a direct sales force, as well as through a network of agents and distributors. Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Cheongju-si, South Korea.