Head to Head Contrast: POET Technologies (OTCMKTS:POETF) and Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU)

POET Technologies (OTCMKTS:POETF) and Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for POET Technologies and Cohu, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
POET Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cohu	1	0	7	2	3.00

Cohu has a consensus target price of $68.75, indicating a potential upside of 32.75%. Given Cohu’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cohu is more favorable than POET Technologies.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.7% of Cohu shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Cohu shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
POET Technologies	$4.43 million	666.50	-$18.17 million	($0.05)	-161.80
Cohu	$452.96 million	5.41	-$74.27 million	($0.83)	-62.40

POET Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cohu. POET Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cohu, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

POET Technologies has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cohu has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares POET Technologies and Cohu’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
POET Technologies	N/A	-88.82%	-74.05%
Cohu	-7.43%	-1.96%	-1.30%

Summary

Cohu beats POET Technologies on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About POET Technologies

POET Technologies, Inc. engages in the designing, developing, manufacturing and sale of opto-electronic solutions for the sensing, data communications and telecommunications markets. It developed POET Optical Interposer platform, which allows the integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single multi-chip module. The company was founded on November 14, 1985 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors. It also provides semiconductor automated test equipment for wafer level and device package testing; various test handlers, including pick-and-place, turret, gravity, strip, and MEMS and thermal sub-systems; interface products comprising test contactors, and probe heads and pins; spares and kits; various parts and labor warranties on test and handling systems, and instruments; and training on the maintenance and operation of its systems, as well as application, data management software, and consulting services on its products. In addition, the company offers data analytics product that includes DI-Core, a software suite used to optimize Cohu equipment performance, which provides real-time online performance monitoring and process control. It markets its products through direct sales force and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Cohu Electronics, Inc. and changed its name to Cohu, Inc. in 1972. The company was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Poway, California.