AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) & Simpple (NASDAQ:SPPL) Critical Review

Simpple (NASDAQ:SPPL) and AstroNova (NASDAQ:ALOT) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Simpple and AstroNova’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simpple	N/A	N/A	N/A
AstroNova	-0.88%	2.94%	1.61%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Simpple and AstroNova”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simpple	$4.59 million	4.26	-$3.26 million	N/A	N/A
AstroNova	$150.51 million	1.47	-$2.38 million	($0.18)	-158.67

AstroNova has higher revenue and earnings than Simpple.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of Simpple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of AstroNova shares are held by institutional investors. 12.6% of AstroNova shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Simpple and AstroNova, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simpple	1	0	0	0	1.00
AstroNova	1	0	0	0	1.00

Risk and Volatility

Simpple has a beta of 4.32, meaning that its share price is 332% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AstroNova has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AstroNova beats Simpple on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Simpple

Simpple Ltd. provides advanced technology solutions in Singapore. The company engages in the sale, warranty, and maintenance of autonomous robotic cleaning equipment. It also offers SIMPPLE Ecosystem platform includes SIMPPLE Software, a software platform comprising modules related to quality management, workflow management, and people management; SIMPPLE PLUS, which offers complimentary peripherals, such as IoT sensors and robotic solutions that add value to the entire ecosystem that the company distributes, sells, and manages; and SIMPPLE.AI, a next generation facilities management autonomic intelligence engine that automates robotic and human workforce deployments. In addition, the company provides professional services, including set-up, testing, training, and commissioning, as well as recurring software-as-a-Service user license subscription fees. It serves building service contractors, facility management companies, and building owners. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Singapore. Simpple Ltd. is a subsidiary of Ifsc Founders Pte. Ltd.

About AstroNova

AstroNova, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes specialty printers, and data acquisition and analysis systems in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, Central and South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Product Identification (PI) and Test & Measurement (T&M). The PI segment offers tabletop and production-ready digital color label printers, and OEM printing systems under the QuickLabel brand; digital color label mini-presses and inline printing systems under the TrojanLabel brand; and label materials, tags material, inks, toners, and thermal transfer ribbions under the GetLabels brand. This segment also develops and licenses various specialized software programs to design and manage labels and print images; and provides training and support. This segment serves chemicals, cosmetics, food and beverage, medical products, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and other industries; and brand owners, label converters, commercial printers, and packaging manufacturers. The T&M segment offers airborne printing solutions, such as ToughWriter used to print hard copies of navigation maps, arrival and departure information, flight itineraries, weather maps, performance data, passenger data, and various air traffic control data; ToughSwitch, an ethernet switches used to connect multiple computers or Ethernet devices; TMX data acquisition systems; Daxus DXS-100 distributed data acquisition platform; SmartCorder DDX100 portable data acquisition systems for facility and field testing; and Everest EV-5000, a digital strip chart recording system used primarily in aerospace and defense. This segment serves aerospace and aerospace and defense, automotive, commercial airline, energy, manufacturing, and transportation industries. The company was formerly known as Astro-Med, Inc. and changed its name to AstroNova, Inc. in May 2016. AstroNova, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island.