Critical Contrast: United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) versus Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO)

Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO) and United Microelectronics (NYSE:UMC) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Qorvo has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Microelectronics has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.6% of Qorvo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.0% of United Microelectronics shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Qorvo shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of United Microelectronics shares are owned by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Qorvo and United Microelectronics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qorvo	10.95%	17.23%	10.06%
United Microelectronics	33.18%	21.00%	13.87%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Qorvo and United Microelectronics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qorvo	1	14	3	0	2.11
United Microelectronics	3	1	1	1	2.00

Qorvo presently has a consensus price target of $94.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.52%. United Microelectronics has a consensus price target of $8.60, suggesting a potential downside of 52.62%. Given Qorvo’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Qorvo is more favorable than United Microelectronics.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Qorvo and United Microelectronics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Qorvo	$3.68 billion	2.34	$338.99 million	$4.31	22.61
United Microelectronics	$7.57 billion	6.04	$1.29 billion	$1.07	16.96

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

Summary

United Microelectronics beats Qorvo on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Qorvo

Qorvo, Inc. engages in development and commercialization of technologies and products for wireless, wired, and power markets. It operates through three segments: High Performance Analog (HPA), Connectivity and Sensors Group (CSG), and Advanced Cellular Group (ACG). The HPA segment supplies radio frequency and power management solutions for automotive, defense and aerospace, cellular infrastructure, broadband, and other markets. The CSG segment supplies connectivity and sensor components and systems featuring various technologies, such as UWB, Matter, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, Thread, Wi-Fi, cellular IoT, and MEMS-/BAW-based sensors. It serves markets, such as smart home, industrial automation, automotive, smartphones, wearables, gaming, and industrial and enterprise access points. The ACG segment supplies cellular RF solutions for smartphones, wearables, laptops, tablets, and various other devices. The company also offers foundry services for defense primes and other defense and aerospace customers. The company sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers, as well as through a network of sales representative firms and distributors. It operates in the United States, China, other Asian countries, Taiwan, and Europe. The company was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.

About United Microelectronics

United Microelectronics Corporation operates as a semiconductor wafer foundry in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides circuit design, mask tooling, wafer fabrication, and assembly and testing services. It serves fabless design companies and integrated device manufacturers. United Microelectronics Corporation was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.