Financial Contrast: LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) vs. CPS Technologies (NASDAQ:CPSH)

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ:LPTH) and CPS Technologies (NASDAQ:CPSH) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

LightPath Technologies has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CPS Technologies has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares LightPath Technologies and CPS Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LightPath Technologies	-37.38%	-15.55%	-6.87%
CPS Technologies	0.10%	0.16%	0.13%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for LightPath Technologies and CPS Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LightPath Technologies	1	1	3	1	2.67
CPS Technologies	2	0	1	0	1.67

LightPath Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $14.13, indicating a potential downside of 16.67%. CPS Technologies has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Given CPS Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CPS Technologies is more favorable than LightPath Technologies.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

56.3% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.2% of CPS Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.8% of LightPath Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.2% of CPS Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LightPath Technologies and CPS Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LightPath Technologies	$37.20 million	28.61	-$14.87 million	($0.50)	-33.90
CPS Technologies	$32.60 million	3.31	$420,000.00	N/A	N/A

CPS Technologies has lower revenue, but higher earnings than LightPath Technologies.

Summary

LightPath Technologies beats CPS Technologies on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LightPath Technologies

LightPath Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes optical components and assemblies. The company offers precision molded glass aspheric optics, molded and diamond-turned infrared aspheric lenses, and other optical components used to produce products that manipulate light; and infrared products, including catalog and custom infrared optics. Its products are used in defense products, medical devices, laser aided industrial tools, automotive safety applications, barcode scanners, optical data storage, hybrid fiber coax datacom, telecommunications, machine vision and sensors, and other sectors. The company sells its products directly to customers in Europe and Asia. LightPath Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

About CPS Technologies

CPS Technologies Corporation provides advanced material solutions to the transportation, automotive, energy, computing/internet, telecommunication, aerospace, defense, and oil and gas markets in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company offers metal matrix composites such as baseplates for various applications, including motor controllers used in electric trains, subway cars, wind turbines, and hybrid and electric vehicles; hermetic packages for use in radar, satellite, and avionics applications; baseplates and housings used in modules built with wide band gap semiconductors; and lids and heat spreaders for use in internet switches and routers. It also assembles housings and packages that includes metal matrix composite components for hybrid circuits; and produces armor for naval and military applications. The company sells its products to microelectronics systems companies. The company was formerly known as Ceramics Process Systems Corporation and changed its name to CPS Technologies Corporation in March 2007. CPS Technologies Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Norton, Massachusetts.