Financial Contrast: Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) & NCR Atleos (NYSE:NATL)

Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) and NCR Atleos (NYSE:NATL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Forward Industries and NCR Atleos”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Forward Industries	$18.19 million	29.80	-$166.97 million	$0.12	61.17
NCR Atleos	$4.35 billion	0.78	$162.00 million	$2.58	17.76

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

Profitability

This table compares Forward Industries and NCR Atleos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Forward Industries	-2,073.82%	-18.05%	-17.03%
NCR Atleos	4.44%	83.41%	5.87%

Risk & Volatility

Forward Industries has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NCR Atleos has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Forward Industries and NCR Atleos, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Forward Industries	1	1	2	0	2.25
NCR Atleos	0	4	1	0	2.20

Forward Industries presently has a consensus price target of $13.50, indicating a potential upside of 83.92%. NCR Atleos has a consensus price target of $50.27, indicating a potential upside of 9.70%. Given Forward Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Forward Industries is more favorable than NCR Atleos.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.7% of NCR Atleos shares are held by institutional investors. 15.9% of Forward Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of NCR Atleos shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

About Forward Industries

Forward Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and distributes carry and protective solutions primarily for handheld electronic devices. The company operates in three segments: OEM Distribution, Retail Distribution, and Design. The OEM Distribution segment sources and distributes carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits; and various portable electronic and non-electronic products, such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, GPS devices, tablets, and firearms. The Retail Distribution segment sources and sells smart-enabled furniture and a range of other products through agreements with various retailers, including in stores and online retailer websites. The Design segment provides hardware and software product design and engineering services. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Forward Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.

About NCR Atleos

NCR Atleos Corporation operates as a financial technology company in the United States, rest of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Self-Service Banking, Network, and Telecommunications & Technology (T&T). The Self-Service Banking segment offers solutions, including a line of automated teller machine (ATM) and interactive teller machine (ITM) hardware and software, as well as related installation, maintenance, and managed and professional services; and solutions to manage and run the ATM channel end-to-end for financial institutions comprising back office, cash management, software management and ATM deployment, and others. The Network segment provides a network of ATMs and multi-functioning financial services kiosks for financial institutions, fintechs, neobanks, and retailers; Allpoint network for credit unions, banks, digital banks, fintechs, stored-value debit card issuers, and other consumer financial services providers; ReadyCode to convert a digital value to cash or cash to a digital value; ATM branding solutions to financial institutions; ATM management and services to retailers and other businesses; and engages in the buying and selling of Bitcoins. The T&T segment offers managed network and infrastructure services to enterprise clients across various industries through communications service providers and technology manufacturers; and professional, field, and remote services for modern network technologies, including software-defined wide area networking, network functions virtualization, wireless local area networks, optical networking, and edge networks. NCR Atleos Corporation is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.