Financial Review: Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) vs. SoundThinking (NASDAQ:SSTI)

Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) and SoundThinking (NASDAQ:SSTI) 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, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.4% of Aware shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of SoundThinking shares are held by institutional investors. 28.0% of Aware shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.2% of SoundThinking shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Aware has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SoundThinking has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Aware and SoundThinking, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aware	0	0	0	0	0.00
SoundThinking	0	1	5	0	2.83

SoundThinking has a consensus target price of $21.20, indicating a potential upside of 30.70%. Given SoundThinking’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SoundThinking is more favorable than Aware.

Profitability

This table compares Aware and SoundThinking’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aware	-44.06%	-14.46%	-10.72%
SoundThinking	-1.39%	-8.74%	-4.57%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aware and SoundThinking”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aware	$17.39 million	1.88	-$7.31 million	($0.22)	-7.00
SoundThinking	$102.03 million	2.00	-$2.72 million	($0.72)	-22.53

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

Summary

SoundThinking beats Aware on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aware

Aware, Inc., an authentication company, provides biometrics software products and solutions for government agencies and commercial entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers biometric software solution, including Knomi, a mobile biometric framework which provides multiple biometric modality options; AwareABIS, an automated biometric identification system used for large-scale biometric identification and deduplication; AFIX suite used for small-scale law enforcement focused biometric identification; and AFIX Tracker for fingerprint, palmprint, and latent print identification, as well as AFIX Face, AFIX Verifier, AFIX Identifier, AFIX Comparator, AFIX Engine, and AFIX NIST Transaction Engine. It also provides BioSP, a biometric integration platform-as-a-service that enables biometric data processing and management functionality in a web services architecture; WebEnroll, a browser-based biometric enrollment and data management solution; and AwareID, a software-as-a-service that provides identity verification and continuous authentication capabilities. In addition, the company offers biometrics applications, such as Nexa line, a biometric search and match SDKs including Nexa Fingerprint, Nexa Face, Nexa Iris, and Nexa Voice; and AwareXM, an interoperable fingerprint matching SDK that provides fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and fingerprint authentication. Further, it sells imaging products used in medical and advanced imaging application; and offers software maintenance, program management, and software engineering services. The company sells its products, services, and solutions through systems integrators, direct, and original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers channel. Aware, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About SoundThinking

SoundThinking, Inc., a public safety technology company that provides transformative solutions and strategic advisory services for law enforcement and civic leadership. Its SafetySmart Platform, an integrated suite of data-driven tools that enable law enforcement and community violence prevention and health organizations to be efficient in public safety outcomes. It offers ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection system; CrimeTracer, a law enforcement search engine; CaseBuilder, an investigation management system; and ResourceRouter, a software that directs patrol and community anti-violence resources to help maximize their impact. The company sells its solutions through its direct sales teams. The company was formerly known as ShotSpotter, Inc. and changed its name to SoundThinking, Inc. in April 2023. SoundThinking, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.