Analyzing GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI)

GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

28.1% of GCT Semiconductor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of GCT Semiconductor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and Ascent Solar Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GCT Semiconductor	-1,301.99%	N/A	-189.45%
Ascent Solar Technologies	-4,217.19%	-85.21%	-64.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for GCT Semiconductor and Ascent Solar Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GCT Semiconductor	1	0	2	0	2.33
Ascent Solar Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00

GCT Semiconductor presently has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 168.20%. Ascent Solar Technologies has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,069.59%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than GCT Semiconductor.

Risk & Volatility

GCT Semiconductor has a beta of 1.78, suggesting that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and Ascent Solar Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GCT Semiconductor	$2.87 million	41.82	-$43.37 million	($0.80)	-1.63
Ascent Solar Technologies	$80,000.00	209.90	-$7.83 million	($1.48)	-1.16

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

Summary

GCT Semiconductor beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GCT Semiconductor

GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc., operates as a fabless semiconductor company, designs, develops, and markets integrated circuits for the wireless semiconductor industry. The company provides RF and modem chipsets based on 4G LTE technology, including 4G LTE, 4.5G LTE Advanced, and 4.75G LTE Advanced-Pro. It also develops and sells cellular IoT chipsets for low-speed mobile networks such as eMTC/NB-IOT/Sigfox, and other network protocols; and 5G solutions. Its products and solutions are used in smartphones, tablets, hotspots, CPEs, USB dongles, routers, and M2M applications. The company sells its products directly or indirectly through distributors to original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers primarily in Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan, Europe, North America and South America. The company was formerly known as Global Communication Technology, Inc. GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Ascent Solar Technologies

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.