Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) versus Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) Head-To-Head Comparison

Aware (NASDAQ:AWRE) and Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Aware shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of Dolby Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 34.3% of Aware shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 37.9% of Dolby Laboratories shares are owned by company 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.

Risk & Volatility

Aware has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dolby Laboratories has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aware and Dolby Laboratories”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aware	$17.29 million	1.31	-$5.87 million	($0.40)	-2.60
Dolby Laboratories	$1.35 billion	4.08	$255.02 million	$2.35	25.02

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

Profitability

This table compares Aware and Dolby Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aware	-51.92%	-35.21%	-24.33%
Dolby Laboratories	16.70%	11.08%	9.04%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Aware and Dolby Laboratories, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aware	1	0	0	0	1.00
Dolby Laboratories	0	1	2	0	2.67

Dolby Laboratories has a consensus target price of $87.50, indicating a potential upside of 48.81%. Given Dolby Laboratories’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Dolby Laboratories is more favorable than Aware.

Summary

Dolby Laboratories beats Aware on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aware

Aware, Inc., an authentication company, provides biometrics software products and solutions for government agencies and commercial entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers biometric software solution, including Knomi, a mobile biometric framework which provides multiple biometric modality options; AwareABIS, an automated biometric identification system used for large-scale biometric identification and deduplication; AFIX suite used for small-scale law enforcement focused biometric identification; and AFIX Tracker for fingerprint, palmprint, and latent print identification, as well as AFIX Face, AFIX Verifier, AFIX Identifier, AFIX Comparator, AFIX Engine, and AFIX NIST Transaction Engine. It also provides BioSP, a biometric integration platform-as-a-service that enables biometric data processing and management functionality in a web services architecture; WebEnroll, a browser-based biometric enrollment and data management solution; and AwareID, a software-as-a-service that provides identity verification and continuous authentication capabilities. In addition, the company offers biometrics applications, such as Nexa line, a biometric search and match SDKs including Nexa Fingerprint, Nexa Face, Nexa Iris, and Nexa Voice; and AwareXM, an interoperable fingerprint matching SDK that provides fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and fingerprint authentication. Further, it sells imaging products used in medical and advanced imaging application; and offers software maintenance, program management, and software engineering services. The company sells its products, services, and solutions through systems integrators, direct, and original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers channel. Aware, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. creates audio and imaging technologies that transform entertainment at the cinema, DTV transmissions and devices, mobile devices, OTT video and music services, home entertainment devices, and automobiles. The company develops and licenses its audio technologies, such as AAC & HE-AAC, a digital audio codec solution used for a range of media applications; AVC, a digital video codec with high bandwidth efficiency used in various media devices; Dolby AC-4, a digital audio coding technology that delivers new audio experiences to a range of playback devices; and Dolby Atmos technology for cinema and various media devices. Its audio technologies also include DD, a digital audio coding technology that provides multichannel sound to applications; DD+, a digital audio coding technology that offers audio transmission for a range of media applications and devices; Dolby TrueHD, a digital audio coding technology providing encoding for media application; Dolby Vision, an imaging technology for cinema and media devices; and HEVC, a digital video codec with high bandwidth efficiency for media devices. In addition, the company offers digital cinema servers, cinema processors, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and audio and imaging hardware and software products for the cinema, television, broadcast, communication, and entertainment industries. Further, it provides 3-D glasses and kits; and various services to support theatrical and television production for cinema exhibition, broadcast, and home entertainment. The company serves film studios, content creators, post-production facilities, cinema operators, broadcasters, and video game designers. It sells its products directly to the end users, as well as through dealers and distributors worldwide. Dolby Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.