Critical Contrast: Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) versus Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Palladyne AI and Hesai Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Palladyne AI	0	0	0	0	N/A
Hesai Group	0	1	2	0	2.67

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Palladyne AI and Hesai Group’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Palladyne AI	$7.29 million	6.28	-$115.59 million	($3.94)	-0.44
Hesai Group	$1.81 billion	0.32	-$67.04 million	($0.51)	-8.92

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

Volatility & Risk

Palladyne AI has a beta of 3.36, meaning that its share price is 236% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hesai Group has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Palladyne AI and Hesai Group’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%
Hesai Group	-25.68%	-9.83%	-7.10%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

26.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.5% of Hesai Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Hesai Group beats Palladyne AI on 8 of the 12 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 Hesai Group

Hesai Group, through with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of three-dimensional light detection and ranging solutions (LiDAR). Its LiDAR products are used in passenger and commercial vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems; autonomous passenger and freight mobility services; and other applications, such as delivery robots, street sweeping robots, and logistics robots in restricted areas. Hesai Group was founded in 2014 and is based in Shanghai, China.