Head-To-Head Review: Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) and Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM)

Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) and Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Palladyne AI and Symbotic, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Palladyne AI	0	0	0	0	N/A
Symbotic	0	3	11	0	2.79

Symbotic has a consensus price target of $55.69, suggesting a potential upside of 75.30%. Given Symbotic’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Symbotic is more favorable than Palladyne AI.

Profitability

This table compares Palladyne AI and Symbotic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Palladyne AI	-1,390.02%	-74.87%	-57.30%
Symbotic	-1.27%	5.27%	0.65%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 38.3% of Symbotic shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Palladyne AI has a beta of 3.42, indicating that its stock price is 242% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Symbotic has a beta of 1.93, indicating that its stock price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Palladyne AI and Symbotic’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Palladyne AI	$7.29 million	5.98	-$115.59 million	($3.94)	-0.42
Symbotic	$1.18 billion	15.78	-$23.87 million	($0.24)	-132.37

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

Summary

Symbotic beats Palladyne AI on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Palladyne AI

Palladyne AI Corp., a software company, focuses on delivering software that enhances the utility and functionality of third-party stationary and mobile robotic systems in the United States. Its Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) software platform enables robots to observe, learn, reason, and act in structured and unstructured environments. The company's software platform enables robotic systems to perceive their environment and quickly adapt to changing circumstances by generalizing from their experience using dynamic real-time operations without extensive programming and with minimal robot training. It serves customers from various industries, such as industrial manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, defense, infrastructure maintenance and repair, energy, aerospace and aviation, and others. The company was formerly known as Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation and changed its name to Palladyne AI Corp. in March 2024. Palladyne AI Corp. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Symbotic

Symbotic Inc., an automation technology company, engages in developing technologies to improve operating efficiencies in modern warehouses. The company automates the processing of pallets and cases in large warehouses or distribution centers for retail companies. Its systems enhance operations at the front end of the supply chain. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.