Mesa Laboratories (MLAB) Competitors

Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) and Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, community ranking, risk, media sentiment, profitability, valuation and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in DAKT or MLAB?

61.7% of Daktronics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.6% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of Daktronics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer DAKT or MLAB?

In the previous week, Mesa Laboratories had 5 more articles in the media than Daktronics. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Mesa Laboratories and 2 mentions for Daktronics. Mesa Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.72 beat Daktronics' score of 0.50 indicating that Daktronics is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Daktronics	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mesa Laboratories	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics has higher revenue and earnings than Mesa Laboratories. Daktronics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mesa Laboratories, 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
Daktronics	$754.20M	0.68	$6.80M	$1.03	10.84
Mesa Laboratories	$219.08M	2.35	$930K	$0.17	562.97

Do analysts rate DAKT or MLAB?

Mesa Laboratories has a consensus price target of $130.00, indicating a potential upside of 35.84%. Given Daktronics' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Mesa Laboratories is more favorable than Daktronics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daktronics	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A
Mesa Laboratories	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk & volatility, DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Laboratories has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DAKT or MLAB?

Daktronics received 14 more outperform votes than Mesa Laboratories when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.99% of users gave Daktronics an outperform vote while only 63.82% of users gave Mesa Laboratories an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Daktronics	Outperform Votes 231 63.99%	Underperform Votes 130 36.01%
Mesa Laboratories	Outperform Votes 217 63.82%	Underperform Votes 123 36.18%

Is DAKT or MLAB more profitable?

Daktronics has a net margin of 6.59% compared to Daktronics' net margin of 0.45%. Mesa Laboratories' return on equity of 30.57% beat Daktronics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daktronics	6.59%	30.57%	13.56%
Mesa Laboratories	0.45%	7.41%	4.34%

Summary

Daktronics beats Mesa Laboratories on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.