Head to Head Survey: Materialise (NASDAQ:MTLS) versus Datasea (NASDAQ:DTSS)

Datasea (NASDAQ:DTSS) and Materialise (NASDAQ:MTLS) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Datasea and Materialise, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Datasea	1	0	0	0	1.00
Materialise	0	2	2	0	2.50

Materialise has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.00%. Given Materialise’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Materialise is more favorable than Datasea.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Datasea and Materialise”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Datasea	$40.70 million	0.14	-$2.19 million	($0.32)	-1.66
Materialise	$302.73 million	1.56	$8.73 million	$0.27	29.63

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

Risk & Volatility

Datasea has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Materialise has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Datasea and Materialise’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Datasea	N/A	N/A	N/A
Materialise	4.85%	5.20%	3.17%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.1% of Datasea shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.3% of Materialise shares are held by institutional investors. 50.6% of Datasea shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Materialise shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Materialise beats Datasea on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Datasea

Datasea Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides technology and information systems in the People's Republic of China. The company provides smart city solutions and 5G messaging applications. It also offers its smart security solutions primarily to schools, tourist or scenic attractions, and public communities. In addition, the company provides intelligent acoustics products, which include ultrasonic air sterilizer, air purification and deodorization, and other products. The company was formerly known as Rose Rock, Inc. and changed its name to Datasea Inc. in October 2015. Datasea Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Materialise

Materialise NV provides additive manufacturing and medical software, and 3D printing services in the Americas, Europe and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Materialise Software, Materialise Medical, and Materialise Manufacturing. The Materialise Software segment offers software through programs and platforms that enable and enhance the functionality of 3D printers and of 3D printing operations. Its software interfaces between various types of 3D printers; and various software applications and capturing technologies, including computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing packages and 3D scanners. This segment serves 3D printing machine manufacturers; production companies and contract manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, and hearing aid industries; and 3D printing service bureaus through its sales force, Website, and third party distributors. The Materialise Medical segment provides medical software that allows medical-image based analysis, planning, and engineering, as well as patient-specific design and printing of surgical devices and implants. It serves medical device companies, hospitals, universities, research institutes, and industrial companies through its direct sales force, Website, and picture archiving and communication system. The Materialise Manufacturing segment provides 3D printing services, design and engineering services, and rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing of production parts to industrial and commercial customers. The company has collaboration agreements with Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.; Encore Medical, L.P.; DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson; Limacorporate Spa; Mathys AG; Corin Ltd; Smith & Nephew Inc.; Corin Ltd; Medtronic Inc.; and Abbott Laboratories Inc. Materialise NV was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.