Critical Analysis: Symbotic (NASDAQ:SYM) versus Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN)

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

Analyst Ratings

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

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

Symbotic presently has a consensus price target of $55.69, indicating a potential upside of 58.22%. Given Symbotic’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Symbotic is more favorable than Palladyne AI.

Risk and Volatility

Symbotic has a beta of 1.92, indicating that its stock price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palladyne AI has a beta of 3.42, indicating that its stock price is 242% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.0% of Palladyne AI shares are held by institutional investors. 38.3% of Symbotic shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Palladyne AI shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Symbotic	$1.18 billion	17.49	-$23.87 million	($0.24)	-146.66
Palladyne AI	$6.15 million	6.96	-$115.59 million	($3.94)	-0.41

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.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

Symbotic beats Palladyne AI on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.