POET Technologies (NASDAQ:POET) versus SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) Critical Analysis

POET Technologies (NASDAQ:POET) and SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

POET Technologies has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SunPower has a beta of 1.99, suggesting that its share price is 99% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares POET Technologies and SunPower’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
POET Technologies	$470,000.00	269.06	-$20.27 million	($0.49)	-4.22
SunPower	$1.69 billion	0.31	-$247.11 million	($1.37)	-2.16

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

2.0% of POET Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.4% of SunPower shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of POET Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of SunPower shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares POET Technologies and SunPower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
POET Technologies	N/A	-269.59%	-195.01%
SunPower	-14.15%	-40.95%	-11.70%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for POET Technologies and SunPower, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
POET Technologies	0	0	1	0	3.00
SunPower	10	10	0	0	1.50

POET Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 262.32%. SunPower has a consensus target price of $4.56, indicating a potential upside of 54.14%. Given POET Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe POET Technologies is more favorable than SunPower.

Summary

POET Technologies beats SunPower on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About POET Technologies

POET Technologies Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells discrete and integrated opto-electronic solutions in Canada, the United States, Singapore, and China. It offers integration solutions based on the POET Optical Interposer, a novel platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single multi-chip module using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. It also develops photonic integrated components. The company serves the data center, telecommunications, Internet of things and industrial sensing, automotive LIDAR, optical coherence tomography for medical devices, and virtual reality systems markets. The company was formerly known as Opel Technologies Inc. and changed its name to POET Technologies Inc. in June 2013. POET Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About SunPower

SunPower Corporation, a solar technology and energy services provider, offers solar, storage, and home energy solutions primarily in the United States and Canada. Its solutions include the Equinox and SunVault systems which are pre-engineered modular solutions for residential applications that combine solar module technology with integrated plug-and-play power stations, cable management systems, and mounting hardware that enable dealers and installers to complete system installations, as well as for end customers to manage their energy production. The company also provides post-installation monitoring and maintenance services. It serves residential customers, including individual homeowners and new home builders. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Richmond, California. SunPower Corporation operates as a subsidiary of TotalEnergies SE.