Analyzing Solid Power (NASDAQ:SLDP) & Wabash National (NYSE:WNC)

Solid Power (NASDAQ:SLDP) and Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Solid Power has a beta of 1.94, indicating that its share price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wabash National has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Solid Power and Wabash National”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Solid Power	$21.75 million	34.48	-$93.41 million	($0.50)	-6.80
Wabash National	$1.54 billion	0.25	$211.45 million	$4.87	1.96

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.7% of Solid Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.1% of Wabash National shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Solid Power shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Wabash National shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Solid Power and Wabash National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Solid Power	-429.54%	-23.88%	-22.13%
Wabash National	13.71%	-22.79%	-6.77%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Solid Power and Wabash National, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Solid Power	1	1	2	0	2.25
Wabash National	1	2	0	0	1.67

Solid Power currently has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 105.88%. Wabash National has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.77%. Given Solid Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Solid Power is more favorable than Wabash National.

Summary

Wabash National beats Solid Power on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Solid Power

Solid Power, Inc. develops solid state battery technologies for the electric vehicles (EV) and other markets in the United States. The company sells its sulfide-based solid electrolyte; and licenses its solid-state cell designs and manufacturing processes. It also produces and sells 0.2, 2, 20 ampere-hour (Ah), and EV cells. Solid Power, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado.

About Wabash National

Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.