Financial Contrast: Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) and Gauzy (NASDAQ:GAUZ)

Hayward (NYSE:HAYW) and Gauzy (NASDAQ:GAUZ) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Hayward and Gauzy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hayward	0	4	1	0	2.20
Gauzy	0	2	2	0	2.50

Hayward currently has a consensus target price of $17.1250, suggesting a potential upside of 3.51%. Gauzy has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 92.98%. Given Gauzy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gauzy is more favorable than Hayward.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hayward and Gauzy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hayward	$1.05 billion	3.41	$118.65 million	$0.58	28.52
Gauzy	$103.53 million	1.05	-$53.18 million	($2.05)	-2.78

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

Volatility and Risk

Hayward has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gauzy has a beta of -0.83, indicating that its stock price is 183% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hayward and Gauzy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hayward	12.04%	11.07%	5.34%
Gauzy	-39.63%	-93.64%	-27.62%

Summary

Hayward beats Gauzy on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hayward

Hayward Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pool equipment and associated automation systems in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers pool equipment, including pumps, filters, robotics, suction and pressure cleaners, gas heaters and heat pumps, water features and landscape lighting, water sanitizers, salt chlorine generators, safety equipment, and in-floor automated cleaning systems, as well as LED illumination solutions. It sells its products through specialty distributors, retailers, and buying groups. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Gauzy

Gauzy Ltd. is a fully-integrated light and vision control company which focused on the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of vision and light control technologies. It operates principally in Germany, France, the United States, Canada, China, Singapore and Dubai. Gauzy Ltd. is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.