Financial Comparison: Hoku (OTCMKTS:HOKUQ) versus ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH)

Hoku (OTCMKTS:HOKUQ) and ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Hoku and ESS Tech, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hoku	0	0	0	0	N/A
ESS Tech	0	2	3	1	2.83

ESS Tech has a consensus price target of $2.01, suggesting a potential upside of 160.82%. Given ESS Tech’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ESS Tech is more favorable than Hoku.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hoku and ESS Tech’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hoku	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
ESS Tech	$7.54 million	17.86	-$77.58 million	($0.45)	-1.71

Hoku has higher earnings, but lower revenue than ESS Tech.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.8% of ESS Tech shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Hoku shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of ESS Tech shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Hoku and ESS Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hoku	N/A	N/A	N/A
ESS Tech	-746.89%	-73.08%	-53.49%

Summary

ESS Tech beats Hoku on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hoku

Hoku Corporation operates as a solar energy products and services company primarily in the United States. It focuses on manufacturing polysilicon, a primary material used in the manufacture of photovoltaic (PV) modules; and designing, engineering, and installing turnkey PV systems and related services in Hawaii using solar modules purchased from third-party suppliers. The company was formerly known as Hoku Scientific, Inc. and changed its name to Hoku Corporation in March 2010. Hoku Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. On July 2, 2013, Hoku Corporation along with its affiliates filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho.

About ESS Tech

ESS Tech, Inc., an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.