Contrasting Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) and Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Nordson and Palladyne AI, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nordson	0	2	4	0	2.67
Palladyne AI	0	0	0	0	N/A

Nordson presently has a consensus price target of $279.40, suggesting a potential upside of 17.01%. Given Nordson’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Nordson is more favorable than Palladyne AI.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nordson	18.23%	20.20%	10.87%
Palladyne AI	-1,390.02%	-74.87%	-57.30%

Volatility and Risk

Nordson has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palladyne AI has a beta of 3.36, meaning that its stock price is 236% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.1% of Nordson shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.0% of Palladyne AI shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Nordson shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Palladyne AI shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nordson 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
Nordson	$2.63 billion	5.20	$487.49 million	$8.39	28.46
Palladyne AI	$6.15 million	8.61	-$115.59 million	($3.94)	-0.51

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

Summary

Nordson beats Palladyne AI on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nordson

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions. The Industrial Precision Solutions segment provides dispensing, coating, and laminating systems for adhesives, lotions, liquids, and fibers to disposable products and roll goods; automated adhesive dispensing systems used in packaged goods industries; components and systems used in the thermoplastic and biopolymer melt stream; precision agriculture spraying solutions; fluid components, such as nozzles, pumps, and filters; and product assembly systems for use in paper and paperboard converting applications, and manufacturing roll goods. It also offers automated and manual dispensing products and systems for cold materials, container coating, liquid finishing, and powder coating, as well as ultraviolet equipment used primarily in curing and drying operations. The Medical and Fluid Solutions segment offers medical devices, including cannulas, catheters, and medical balloons; single-use plastic components; precision manual and semi-automated dispensers; minimally invasive interventional delivery devices; and plastic molded syringes, cartridges, tips, and fluid connection components. The Advanced Technology Solutions segment provides automated dispensing systems for the attachment, protection, and coating of fluids, as well as related gas plasma treatment systems for cleaning and conditioning surfaces; and bond testing and automated optical, acoustic microscopy, and x-ray inspection systems for use in semiconductor and printed circuit board industries. The company markets its products through direct sales force, as well as distributors and sales representatives. Nordson Corporation was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio.

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.