Head-To-Head Review: Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) vs. Impinj (NASDAQ:PI)

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Impinj (NASDAQ:PI) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Qualcomm and Impinj’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qualcomm	22.31%	42.11%	19.33%
Impinj	-7.66%	5.67%	2.18%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.4% of Qualcomm shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Qualcomm shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.4% of Impinj shares are held by company 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.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Qualcomm	$44.28 billion	4.26	$5.54 billion	$9.20	19.24
Impinj	$361.08 million	12.42	-$10.85 million	($0.92)	-160.01

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Qualcomm and Impinj, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qualcomm	4	15	8	1	2.21
Impinj	2	2	5	0	2.33

Qualcomm currently has a consensus target price of $172.40, indicating a potential downside of 2.60%. Impinj has a consensus target price of $175.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.88%. Given Impinj’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Impinj is more favorable than Qualcomm.

Risk and Volatility

Qualcomm has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Impinj has a beta of 1.93, meaning that its stock price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Qualcomm beats Impinj on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies for use in wireless voice and data communications, networking, computing, multimedia, and position location products. The QTL segment grants licenses or provides rights to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio, which include various patent rights useful in the manufacture and sale of wireless products comprising products implementing CDMA2000, WCDMA, LTE and/or OFDMA-based 5G standards and their derivatives. The QSI segment invests in early-stage companies in various industries, including 5G, artificial intelligence, automotive, consumer, enterprise, cloud, IoT, and extended reality, and investments, including non-marketable equity securities and, to a lesser extent, marketable equity securities, and convertible debt instruments. It also provides development, and other services and related products to the United States government agencies and their contractors. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Impinj

Impinj, Inc. operates a cloud connectivity platform in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its platform wirelessly connects items and delivers data about the connected items to business and consumer applications. The company’s platform comprises endpoint ICs, a miniature radios-on-a-chip that attaches to a host item and includes a number to identify the item. Its platform also consists of systems products that consists of reader ICs, readers, and gateways to wirelessly provide power to and communicate bidirectionally with endpoint ICs on host items, as well as to read, write, authenticate, and engage the endpoint ICs on those items; and software and algorithms that enable its partners to solve enterprise business problems, such as retail self-checkout and loss prevention. The company primarily serves retail, supply chain and logistics, automotive, aviation, banking, datacenters, food, healthcare, industrial and manufacturing, linen and uniform tracking, sports, and travel industries through original equipment and device manufacturers, tag service bureaus, systems integrators, value-added resellers, independent software vendors, and other solution partners. Impinj, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.