Financial Analysis: Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) & indie Semiconductor (NASDAQ:INDI)

Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) and indie Semiconductor (NASDAQ:INDI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Ceva and indie Semiconductor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ceva	-10.47%	-3.42%	-2.98%
indie Semiconductor	-69.76%	-29.85%	-13.40%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ceva and indie Semiconductor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ceva	$109.60 million	10.02	-$10.64 million	($0.45)	-87.62
indie Semiconductor	$217.39 million	4.95	-$143.07 million	($0.76)	-6.33

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.4% of Ceva shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of indie Semiconductor shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Ceva shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of indie Semiconductor shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Ceva and indie Semiconductor, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ceva	1	1	8	0	2.70
indie Semiconductor	1	1	2	0	2.25

Ceva currently has a consensus target price of $39.44, indicating a potential upside of 0.04%. indie Semiconductor has a consensus target price of $6.92, indicating a potential upside of 43.80%. Given indie Semiconductor’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe indie Semiconductor is more favorable than Ceva.

Risk & Volatility

Ceva has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, indie Semiconductor has a beta of 2.74, meaning that its share price is 174% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ceva beats indie Semiconductor on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ceva

CEVA, Inc. provides silicon and software IP solutions to semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies worldwide. Its 5G mobile and infrastructure products include Ceva-XC vector digital signal processors (DSPs) for 5G handsets, 5G RAN, and general-purpose baseband processing; PentaG-RAN, an open ran platform for base station and radio; and PentaG2 – 5G NR modem platform for UE, as well as for non-handset 5G vertical markets, such as fixed wireless access, industry 4.0, robotics, and AR/VR devices. The company’s wireless IoT products comprise RivieraWaves’ Bluetooth 5dual mode and low energy platforms, RivieraWaves’ Wi-Fi platforms, ultra-wide band platforms, and Cellular IoT and RedCap platforms, as well as sense and inference processors and platforms consist of NeuPro-M neural processing unit (NPU) family; SensPro2 sensor hub AI platforms addressing imaging, vision, powertrain, and applications, including DSP processors, AI accelerators, and a software portfolio; and Ceva-BX1 and Ceva-BX2 audio AI DSPs. Its sensing and audio software comprise RealSpace spatial audio software package; WhisPro speech recognition; ClearVox, a voice front-end software package for voice-enabled devices; and CDNN, a neural network graph compiler that enables AI developers to automatically compile, optimize, and run pre-trained networks onto embedded devices. The company’s application software IP are licensed primarily to OEMs who embed it in their system on chip designs. It delivers AI DSPs and NPUs in the form of a hardware description language definition; and offers development platforms, software development kits, and software debug tools, which facilitate system design, debug, and software development. The company licenses its technology through a direct sales force. CEVA, Inc. was formerly known as ParthusCeva, Inc. and changed its name to CEVA, Inc. in December 2003. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About indie Semiconductor

indie Semiconductor, Inc. provides automotive semiconductors and software solutions for advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous vehicle, in-cabin, connected car, and electrification applications in the United States, South America, rest of North America, Greater China, South Korea, rest of the Asia Pacific, and Europe. It offers ultrasonic sensors for parking assist and systems; radar sensors for audio assistance and reverse information; front cameras for vehicle detection, collision avoidance, and sign reading; and side/inside cameras for blind spot and lane change assist, and driver behavior monitoring. The company also provides LiDAR for distance, speed, and obstacle detection, collision avoidance, and emergency brake system; and long range RADAR for audio assistance, obstacle detection, and ACC stop and go. In addition, it designs and manufactures photonic components on various technology platforms, including fiber Bragg gratings, low-noise lasers, athermal and tunable packaging, photonic integration, and low-noise and high-speed electronics. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.