AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) versus nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Head to Head Analysis

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) and AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares nLight and AXT”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for nLight and AXT, as provided by MarketBeat.

nLight presently has a consensus target price of $58.31, suggesting a potential downside of 3.01%. AXT has a consensus target price of $22.80, suggesting a potential downside of 56.85%. Given nLight’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe nLight is more favorable than AXT.

Volatility & Risk

nLight has a beta of 2.27, suggesting that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AXT has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.9% of nLight shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of AXT shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of nLight shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of AXT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares nLight and AXT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Summary

nLight beats AXT on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About nLight

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nLIGHT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.

About AXT

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AXT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging. It also provides semi-insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates for use in Wi-Fi and IoT devices, transistors, direct broadcast television, power amplifiers, satellite communications, and solar cells; and semi-conducting GaAs substrates that are used in LEDs, screen displays using micro-LEDs, printer head lasers and LEDs, 3-D sensing using VCSELs, data center communication using VCSELs, sensors for industrial robotics/near-infrared sensors, optical couplers, solar cells, night vision goggles, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and other lasers, as well as laser machining, cutting, and drilling. In addition, the company offers germanium substrates for use in multi-junction solar cells for satellites, optical sensors and detectors, terrestrial concentrated photo voltaic cells, infrared detectors, and carrier wafer for LED. Further, it provides 6N+ and 7N+ purified gallium, boron trioxide, gallium-magnesium alloy, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles, and pBN insulating parts. It sells its products through direct salesforce in the United States, China, and Europe, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and internationally. The company was formerly known as American Xtal Technology, Inc. and changed its name to AXT, Inc. in July 2000. AXT, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.