IQE (OTCMKTS:IQEPF) versus indie Semiconductor (NASDAQ:INDI) Critical Comparison

indie Semiconductor (NASDAQ:INDI) and IQE (OTCMKTS:IQEPF) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk & Volatility

indie Semiconductor has a beta of 2.56, meaning that its stock price is 156% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IQE has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares indie Semiconductor and IQE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
indie Semiconductor	-66.23%	-29.33%	-13.71%
IQE	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.7% of indie Semiconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of indie Semiconductor shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares indie Semiconductor and IQE”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
indie Semiconductor	$217.39 million	3.22	-$143.07 million	($0.73)	-4.29
IQE	$150.84 million	2.02	-$48.79 million	N/A	N/A

IQE has lower revenue, but higher earnings than indie Semiconductor.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for indie Semiconductor and IQE, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
indie Semiconductor	1	1	5	0	2.57
IQE	0	0	0	0	0.00

indie Semiconductor currently has a consensus target price of $6.45, suggesting a potential upside of 106.07%. Given indie Semiconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe indie Semiconductor is more favorable than IQE.

Summary

indie Semiconductor beats IQE on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About indie Semiconductor

indie Semiconductor, Inc. provides automotive semiconductors and software solutions for advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous vehicle, in-cabin, connected car, and electrification applications in the United States, South America, rest of North America, Greater China, South Korea, rest of the Asia Pacific, and Europe. It offers ultrasonic sensors for parking assist and systems; radar sensors for audio assistance and reverse information; front cameras for vehicle detection, collision avoidance, and sign reading; and side/inside cameras for blind spot and lane change assist, and driver behavior monitoring. The company also provides LiDAR for distance, speed, and obstacle detection, collision avoidance, and emergency brake system; and long range RADAR for audio assistance, obstacle detection, and ACC stop and go. In addition, it designs and manufactures photonic components on various technology platforms, including fiber Bragg gratings, low-noise lasers, athermal and tunable packaging, photonic integration, and low-noise and high-speed electronics. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.

About IQE

IQE plc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells advanced semiconductor materials. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Photonics, and CMOS++. The company manufactures and sells compound semiconductor materials for the wireless market which includes radio frequency devices for wireless communications, and photonics market, that includes applications that transmit and sense visible and infrared lights, as well as advanced semiconductor materials related to silicon. It operates in the United States, rest of the Americas, France, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the People's Republic of China, Japan, Taiwan, and rest of the Asia-Pacific. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Cardiff, the United Kingdom.