nLIGHT (LASR) Competitors

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) and Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and community ranking.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in LASR or SIMO?

83.9% of nLIGHT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of Silicon Motion Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.1% of nLIGHT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Silicon Motion Technology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LASR or SIMO?

Silicon Motion Technology received 656 more outperform votes than nLIGHT when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 76.37% of users gave Silicon Motion Technology an outperform vote while only 63.75% of users gave nLIGHT an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
nLIGHT	Outperform Votes 197 63.75%	Underperform Votes 112 36.25%
Silicon Motion Technology	Outperform Votes 853 76.37%	Underperform Votes 264 23.63%

Does the media refer more to LASR or SIMO?

In the previous week, Silicon Motion Technology had 3 more articles in the media than nLIGHT. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Silicon Motion Technology and 2 mentions for nLIGHT. Silicon Motion Technology's average media sentiment score of 0.62 beat nLIGHT's score of 0.43 indicating that Silicon Motion Technology is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
nLIGHT	Neutral
Silicon Motion Technology	Positive

Do analysts recommend LASR or SIMO?

nLIGHT presently has a consensus target price of $15.13, suggesting a potential upside of 78.99%. Silicon Motion Technology has a consensus target price of $80.63, suggesting a potential upside of 51.89%. Given nLIGHT's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe nLIGHT is more favorable than Silicon Motion Technology.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
nLIGHT	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Silicon Motion Technology	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Which has higher earnings and valuation, LASR or SIMO?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
nLIGHT	$198.55M	2.09	-$41.67M	-$1.26	-6.71
Silicon Motion Technology	$803.55M	2.22	$90.72M	$2.69	19.73

Is LASR or SIMO more profitable?

Silicon Motion Technology has a net margin of 11.29% compared to nLIGHT's net margin of -24.16%. Silicon Motion Technology's return on equity of 11.63% beat nLIGHT's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
nLIGHT	-24.16%	-19.53%	-15.91%
Silicon Motion Technology	11.29%	11.63%	8.77%

Which has more volatility & risk, LASR or SIMO?

nLIGHT has a beta of 2.29, indicating that its share price is 129% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silicon Motion Technology has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Silicon Motion Technology beats nLIGHT on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.