Critical Contrast: Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) vs. Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS)

Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) and Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Rambus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Solar Technologies	$460,000.00	6.34	-$17.07 million	N/A	N/A
Rambus	$556.62 million	12.01	$179.82 million	$1.66	37.79

Rambus has higher revenue and earnings than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of Rambus shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Rambus shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 2.43, meaning that its share price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rambus has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Ascent Solar Technologies and Rambus, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Solar Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00
Rambus	0	0	7	1	3.13

Rambus has a consensus target price of $76.71, suggesting a potential upside of 22.29%. Given Rambus’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Rambus is more favorable than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Rambus’ 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%
Rambus	32.31%	17.47%	14.45%

Summary

Rambus beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 12 of the 13 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 Rambus

Rambus Inc. provides semiconductor products in the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and internationally. The company offers DDR memory interface chips, including DDR5 and DDR4 memory interface chips to module manufacturers, OEMs, and hyperscalers; silicon IP, such as interface and security IP solutions that move and protect data in advanced data center, government, and automotive applications; and interface IP solutions for high-speed memory and chip-to-chip digital controller IP. It also provides a portfolios of security IP solutions, including crypto cores, hardware roots of trust, high-speed protocol engines, and chip provisioning technologies; and portfolio of patents that covers memory architecture, high-speed serial links, and security products. It markets its products and services through its direct sales force and distributors. Rambus Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.