Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) Financial Review

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Atomera shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Atomera shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atomera has a beta of 2.03, suggesting that its stock price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Atomera”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Solar Technologies	$80,000.00	217.76	-$7.83 million	($1.48)	-1.20
Atomera	$60,000.00	2,014.08	-$20.17 million	($0.65)	-4.76

Ascent Solar Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Atomera. Atomera 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ascent Solar Technologies and Atomera, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Solar Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00
Atomera	1	0	0	0	1.00

Ascent Solar Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,027.40%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than Atomera.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Solar Technologies	-4,217.19%	-85.21%	-64.83%
Atomera	-9,742.17%	-77.91%	-70.64%

Summary

Ascent Solar Technologies beats Atomera on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Atomera

Atomera Incorporated engages in the developing, commercializing, and licensing proprietary processes and technologies for the semiconductor industry in North America and the Asia Pacific. The company's lead technology is the Mears Silicon Technology, a thin film of reengineered silicon that can be applied as a transistor channel enhancement to CMOS-type transistors. Its customers include foundries, integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and electronic design automation companies. The company was formerly known as Mears Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Atomera Incorporated in January 2016. Atomera Incorporated was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.