Pixelworks (NASDAQ:PXLW – Get Free Report) and Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, risk and valuation.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
21.4% of Pixelworks shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.4% of Ideal Power shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Pixelworks shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Ideal Power shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Pixelworks has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ideal Power has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Pixelworks | $60.70 million | 0.81 | -$26.18 million | ($0.47) | -1.77 |
| Ideal Power | $200,000.00 | 258.00 | -$9.95 million | ($1.53) | -4.39 |
Ideal Power has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pixelworks. Ideal Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pixelworks, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations for Pixelworks and Ideal Power, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Pixelworks | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Ideal Power | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Pixelworks presently has a consensus target price of $2.17, indicating a potential upside of 159.76%. Ideal Power has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 108.64%. Given Pixelworks’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Pixelworks is more favorable than Ideal Power.
Profitability
This table compares Pixelworks and Ideal Power’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Pixelworks | -50.01% | -93.16% | -30.04% |
| Ideal Power | -7,138.19% | -62.80% | -55.62% |
Summary
Pixelworks beats Ideal Power on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Pixelworks
Pixelworks, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and markets semiconductor and software solutions for mobile, home and enterprise, and cinema markets in the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Europe. The company offers imageprocessor integrated circuits, such as embedded microprocessors, digital signal processing technology, and software that control the operations and signal processing within high-end display systems; visual processor integrated circuits that works with a mobile application processor; and transcoder integrated circuits which includes software that control the operations and signal processing for converting multiple bitrates, resolutions and codecs to provide bandwidth efficient video transmissions based on industry standard protocols. It also provides software and platform licensing products comprising Pixelworks Pro Software, a software that enables development and customize the look and feel of mobile products by use of various features, such as absolute color accuracy, HDR tone mapping, SDR-to-HDR conversion, and others; and TrueCut Motion Platform, content creation tool which provides the ability to dial in a motion look on a shot-by-shot basis. The company distributes its products to integrators, branded manufacturers, and branded suppliers. Pixelworks, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Portland, Oregon.
About Ideal Power
Ideal Power Inc. focuses on the development and commercialization of its bidirectional bipolar junction TRANsistor solid-state switch technology. It also offers SymCool Power Module designed to meet low conduction loss needs of the solid-state circuit breaker market. The company serves electric and hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging, renewable energy and energy storage system power converters, uninterruptible power supplies for data centers, industrial motor drives, solid-state circuit breakers, distribution and transmission switches and controls, and other industrial and military markets. The company was formerly known as Ideal Power Converters Inc. and changed its name to Ideal Power Inc. in July 2013. Ideal Power Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
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