LDK Solar (OTCMKTS:LDKYQ) versus Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Critical Contrast

LDK Solar (OTCMKTS:LDKYQ) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) are both oils/energy 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 LDK Solar and Micron Technology, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LDK Solar	0	0	0	0	N/A
Micron Technology	1	1	25	0	2.89

Micron Technology has a consensus price target of $119.62, suggesting a potential downside of 3.21%. Given Micron Technology’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Micron Technology is more favorable than LDK Solar.

Volatility & Risk

LDK Solar has a beta of 6.17, meaning that its share price is 517% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Micron Technology has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.8% of Micron Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Micron Technology 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.

Profitability

This table compares LDK Solar and Micron Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LDK Solar	N/A	N/A	N/A
Micron Technology	-20.57%	-8.98%	-6.10%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LDK Solar and Micron Technology’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LDK Solar	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Micron Technology	$15.54 billion	8.81	-$5.83 billion	($3.45)	-35.82

LDK Solar has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Micron Technology.

Summary

Micron Technology beats LDK Solar on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LDK Solar

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets photovoltaic (PV) products in the People's Republic of China, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company operates through two segments, Polysilicon and Other PV Products. It produces and sells solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon. The company also manufactures and sells multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules; and PV cells and PV modules. In addition, it provides solar module processing services; designs and develops solar farm projects, as well as offers related engineering, procurement, and construction services for solar farm projects; and sells silicon materials, which include ingots and polysilicon scraps. LDK Solar CO., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu, the People's Republic of China.

About Micron Technology

Micron Technology, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels. The company offers memory products for the cloud server, enterprise, client, graphics, networking, industrial, and automotive markets, as well as for smartphone and other mobile-device markets; SSDs and component-level solutions for the enterprise and cloud, client, and consumer storage markets; discrete storage products in component and wafers; and memory and storage products for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. It markets its products through its direct sales force, independent sales representatives, distributors, and retailers; and web-based customer direct sales channel, as well as through channel and distribution partners. Micron Technology, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.