Reviewing SPI Energy (NASDAQ:SPI) & Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS)

SPI Energy (NASDAQ:SPI) and Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.7% of SPI Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of Rambus shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.6% of SPI Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Rambus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares SPI Energy and Rambus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SPI Energy	-11.77%	-167.64%	-9.56%
Rambus	72.41%	17.70%	14.46%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SPI Energy and Rambus’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SPI Energy	$177.52 million	0.09	-$33.42 million	($0.88)	-0.55
Rambus	$461.12 million	12.89	$333.90 million	$3.00	18.24

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for SPI Energy and Rambus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SPI Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A
Rambus	0	0	4	0	3.00

Rambus has a consensus target price of $73.20, indicating a potential upside of 33.75%. Given Rambus’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Rambus is more favorable than SPI Energy.

Volatility and Risk

SPI Energy has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rambus has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rambus beats SPI Energy on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SPI Energy

SPI Energy Co., Ltd. provides photovoltaic and electric vehicle (EV) solutions for business, residential, government, and utility customers and investors in Australia, Japan, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Greece. The company offers engineering, procurement, and construction services to independent power developers and producers, and commercial and industrial companies. It also develops, owns, and operates solar projects that sell electricity to power companies and other electricity off-takers, including government-owned utility companies. In addition, the company sells self-assembled solar modules, forklifts, pre-development solar projects, component and charging stations, as well as offers shipping, delivery, engineering, and maintenance services. As of April, 2022, it owned and operated 17.51 megawatts of solar projects. The company is headquartered in Sacramento, California.

About Rambus

Rambus Inc. provides semiconductor products in the United States, South Korea, Singapore, and internationally. The company offers DDR memory interface chips, including DDR5 and DDR4 memory interface chips to module manufacturers, OEMs, and hyperscalers; silicon IP, such as interface and security IP solutions that move and protect data in advanced data center, government, and automotive applications; and interface IP solutions for high-speed memory and chip-to-chip digital controller IP. It also provides a portfolios of security IP solutions, including crypto cores, hardware roots of trust, high-speed protocol engines, and chip provisioning technologies; and portfolio of patents that covers memory architecture, high-speed serial links, and security products. It markets its products and services through its direct sales force and distributors. Rambus Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.