Head-To-Head Review: First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP)

Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP) and First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Arteris and First Solar”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arteris	$53.30 million	5.13	-$36.87 million	($1.03)	-6.90
First Solar	$3.76 billion	5.83	$830.78 million	$9.54	21.49

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

Profitability

This table compares Arteris and First Solar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arteris	-68.37%	-274.66%	-35.43%
First Solar	31.98%	17.73%	11.54%

Risk and Volatility

Arteris has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Solar has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Arteris and First Solar, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arteris	0	1	3	0	2.75
First Solar	0	3	22	1	2.92

Arteris currently has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 82.84%. First Solar has a consensus target price of $288.46, suggesting a potential upside of 40.69%. Given Arteris’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Arteris is more favorable than First Solar.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.4% of Arteris shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of First Solar shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.7% of Arteris shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Solar shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

First Solar beats Arteris on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arteris

Arteris, Inc. provides semiconductor interconnect intellectual property (IP) and System-on-Chip (Soc) Integration Automation software solutions (SIA) in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The company develops, licenses, and supports the on-chip interconnect fabric technology used in Soc designs and Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnect IP. Its products include FlexNoC and FlexWay silicon-proven interconnect IP products; Ncore, a silicon-proven and cache coherent interconnect IP product that provides scalable, configurable, and area efficient characteristics; and CodaCache, a last-level cache semiconductor IP product. The company also offers SIA products comprising Magillem Connectivity that shortens and streamlines the SoC integration process; and Magillem Registers and CSRCompiler that addresses hardware-software integration challenges for SoCs. The company serves semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, hyperscale system houses, semiconductor design houses, and other producers of electronic systems. Arteris, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Campbell, California.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc., a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, Japan, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin film semiconductor technology that provides a lower-carbon alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules. It designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that converts sunlight into electricity. The company's residual business operations include project development activities, operations and maintenance services, and the sale of PV solar power systems to third-party customers. It serves developers and operators of systems, utilities, independent power producers, commercial and industrial companies, and other system owners. The company was formerly known as First Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to First Solar, Inc. in 2006. First Solar, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.