Critical Contrast: Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) versus Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC)

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) and Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Daktronics and Astrotech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daktronics	0	1	2	1	3.00
Astrotech	1	0	0	0	1.00

Daktronics presently has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 53.66%. Given Daktronics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Daktronics is more favorable than Astrotech.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.7% of Daktronics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Astrotech shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Daktronics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Astrotech shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Daktronics has a beta of 1.68, indicating that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrotech has a beta of 4.91, indicating that its stock price is 391% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Daktronics and Astrotech”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daktronics	$838.71 million	1.16	$45.38 million	$0.98	20.59
Astrotech	$910,000.00	11.32	-$14.43 million	($8.49)	-0.60

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

Profitability

This table compares Daktronics and Astrotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daktronics	5.66%	18.05%	9.68%
Astrotech	-1,578.34%	-91.69%	-72.48%

Summary

Daktronics beats Astrotech on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Daktronics

Daktronics, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems and large screen video displays for sporting, commercial, and transportation applications in the United States and internationally. It operates through Commercial, Live Events, High School Park and Recreation, Transportation, and International segments. The company also offers video display and walls; scoreboards and timing systems; LED message displays and sings; intelligent transportation systems dynamic message signs; mass transit display; sound systems; and digital billboards and street furniture, and digit and price displays. In addition, it provides indoor dynamic messaging systems and liquid crystal display signs; and software and controllers, which includes Venus, a control suite software to control the creation of messages and graphic sequences for uploading to displays. The company sells its products through direct sales and resellers. Daktronics, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota.

About Astrotech

Astrotech Corporation operates as a mass spectrometry company worldwide. It owns and licenses the intellectual property related to the Astrotech Mass Spectrometer Technology, a platform mass spectrometry technology. The company also develops TRACER 1000, a mass spectrometer-based explosive trace detector to replace the explosives trace detectors used at airports, cargo and other secured facilities, and borders. In addition, it develops AgLAB-1000, a mass spectrometer for use in the hemp and cannabis market. Further, the company develops BreathTest-1000, a breath analysis tool to screen for volatile organic compound metabolites found in a person's breath. The company was formerly known as SPACEHAB, Inc. and changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Austin, Texas.