Critical Contrast: Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) vs. Kopin (NASDAQ:KOPN)

Kopin (NASDAQ:KOPN) and Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Kopin and Garmin, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kopin	1	0	4	0	2.60
Garmin	2	1	2	1	2.33

Kopin currently has a consensus price target of $4.69, indicating a potential upside of 101.18%. Garmin has a consensus price target of $242.60, indicating a potential upside of 18.02%. Given Kopin’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Kopin is more favorable than Garmin.

Volatility & Risk

Kopin has a beta of 2.72, indicating that its stock price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Garmin has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.0% of Kopin shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.6% of Garmin shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Kopin shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.5% of Garmin shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kopin and Garmin”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kopin	$50.33 million	8.45	-$43.88 million	($0.04)	-58.25
Garmin	$6.30 billion	6.28	$1.41 billion	$8.12	25.31

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

Profitability

This table compares Kopin and Garmin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kopin	-13.81%	-30.97%	-9.76%
Garmin	22.63%	19.42%	15.73%

Summary

Garmin beats Kopin on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kopin

Kopin Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, invents, develops, manufactures, and sells microdisplays, subassemblies, and related components for defense, enterprise, industrial, and consumer products in the United States, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and internationally. It offers miniature active-matrix liquid crystal displays, liquid crystal on silicon displays/spatial light modulators, organic light emitting diode displays, microLED display technologies, application specific integrated circuits, backlights, and optical lenses; and head-mounted and hand-held VR products. The company’s products are used for soldier thermal weapon rifle sights, avionic fixed and rotary wing pilot helmets, armored vehicle targeting systems, and training and simulation headsets; industrial and medical headsets; 3D optical inspection systems; and consumer augmented reality and virtual reality wearable headsets systems. Kopin Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. Its Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; and fitness accessories. This segment also provides Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, an application development platform. The company's Outdoor segment offers adventure watches, outdoor handhelds and satellite communicators, golf devices, consumer automotive devices, and dog devices, as well as InReach and Gramin response communication device. Its Aviation segment designs, manufactures, and markets various aircraft avionics solutions, including integrated flight decks, electronic flight displays and instrumentation, navigation and communication products, automatic flight control systems and safety-enhancing technologies, audio control systems, engine indication systems, traffic awareness and avoidance solutions, ADS-B and transponders, weather information and avoidance solutions, datalink and connectivity solutions, and various services. The company's Marine segment provides chartplotters and multi-function displays, cartography products, fishfinders, sonar products, autopilot systems, radars, compliant instrument displays and sensors, VHF communication radios, handhelds and wearable devices, sailing products, audio products and accessories, digital switching products, and trolling motors. Its Auto segment offers embedded domain controllers and infotainment units; and software, map database, cameras, wearables, and automotive solutions. The company sells its products through independent retailers, dealers, distributors, installation and repair shops, and original equipment manufacturers, as well as online webshop. Garmin Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.