Reviewing Kopin (NASDAQ:KOPN) & Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST)
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailyKopin (NASDAQ:KOPN – Get Free Report) and Ouster (NASDAQ:OUST – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Kopin and Ouster’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Kopin | 18.26% | 14.79% | 8.42% |
| Ouster | -26.02% | -17.49% | -12.97% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Kopin and Ouster, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Kopin | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.62 |
| Ouster | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2.56 |
Kopin currently has a consensus price target of $7.17, suggesting a potential upside of 51.52%. Ouster has a consensus price target of $54.67, suggesting a potential upside of 56.41%. Given Ouster’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ouster is more favorable than Kopin.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
31.0% of Kopin shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.5% of Ouster shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Kopin shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Ouster shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Kopin has a beta of 3.57, suggesting that its share price is 257% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ouster has a beta of 3.25, suggesting that its share price is 225% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Kopin and Ouster”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Kopin | $39.32 million | 22.36 | $2.61 million | $0.04 | 118.25 |
| Ouster | $204.91 million | 12.30 | -$60.38 million | ($0.86) | -40.64 |
Kopin has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ouster. Ouster is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kopin, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Kopin beats Ouster on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Kopin
Kopin Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, invents, develops, manufactures, and sells microdisplays, subassemblies, and related components for defense, enterprise, industrial, and consumer products in the United States, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and internationally. It offers miniature active-matrix liquid crystal displays, liquid crystal on silicon displays/spatial light modulators, organic light emitting diode displays, microLED display technologies, application specific integrated circuits, backlights, and optical lenses; and head-mounted and hand-held VR products. The company’s products are used for soldier thermal weapon rifle sights, avionic fixed and rotary wing pilot helmets, armored vehicle targeting systems, and training and simulation headsets; industrial and medical headsets; 3D optical inspection systems; and consumer augmented reality and virtual reality wearable headsets systems. Kopin Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts.
About Ouster
Ouster, Inc. provides lidar sensors for the automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure industries in Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its products include high-resolution scanning and solid-state digital lidar sensors, analog lidar sensors, and software solutions. The company offers Ouster Sensor, a scanning sensor; and Digital Flash, a solid-state flash sensor. It also provides surround-view lidar sensors, which include Ouster Gemini, a perception platform for smart infrastructure deployments; and Blue City, a Gemini-powered solution for traffic operations, planning, and safety. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.