Comparing NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) & IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP)

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.8% of IPG Photonics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of NVIDIA shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.0% of IPG Photonics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of NVIDIA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares IPG Photonics and NVIDIA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
IPG Photonics	-14.20%	4.32%	3.89%
NVIDIA	55.04%	113.50%	73.83%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for IPG Photonics and NVIDIA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
IPG Photonics	1	2	2	1	2.50
NVIDIA	0	4	38	2	2.95

IPG Photonics presently has a consensus target price of $93.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.10%. NVIDIA has a consensus target price of $152.40, indicating a potential upside of 8.74%. Given IPG Photonics’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe IPG Photonics is more favorable than NVIDIA.

Risk and Volatility

IPG Photonics has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NVIDIA has a beta of 1.66, meaning that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares IPG Photonics and NVIDIA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
IPG Photonics	$1.29 billion	2.45	$218.88 million	($3.47)	-21.03
NVIDIA	$60.92 billion	56.43	$29.76 billion	$2.13	65.74

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

Summary

NVIDIA beats IPG Photonics on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About IPG Photonics

IPG Photonics Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells various high-performance fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and diode lasers used in various applications primarily in materials processing worldwide. Its laser products include hybrid fiber-solid state lasers with green and ultraviolet wavelengths; fiber pigtailed packaged diodes and fiber coupled direct diode laser systems; high-energy pulsed lasers, multi-wavelength and tunable lasers, and single-polarization and single-frequency lasers; and high-power optical fiber delivery cables, fiber couplers, beam switches, chillers, scanners, and other accessories. The company also offers integrated laser systems; LightWELD, a handheld laser welding system; 2D compact flat sheet cutter systems and multi-axis systems for fine welding, cutting, and drilling; welding seam stepper and picker, a fiber laser welding tool; high precision laser systems; specialized fiber laser systems for material processing applications; robotic and multi-axis workstations for welding, cutting and cladding, flatbed cutting systems, and diode markers; and laser and non-laser robotic welding and automation solutions. It serves materials processing, communications, medical procedures, and advanced applications and communications markets. The company markets its products to original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, and end users through direct sales force, as well as through agreements with independent sales representatives and distributors. IPG Photonics Corporation was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications. The Compute & Networking segment comprises Data Center computing platforms and end-to-end networking platforms, including Quantum for InfiniBand and Spectrum for Ethernet; NVIDIA DRIVE automated-driving platform and automotive development agreements; Jetson robotics and other embedded platforms; NVIDIA AI Enterprise and other software; and DGX Cloud software and services. The company's products are used in gaming, professional visualization, data center, and automotive markets. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original device manufacturers, system integrators and distributors, independent software vendors, cloud service providers, consumer internet companies, add-in board manufacturers, distributors, automotive manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, and other ecosystem participants. NVIDIA Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.