Head-To-Head Review: Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) & Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB)

Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) and Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

60.5% of Astera Labs shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.2% of Amtech Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of Astera Labs shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.9% of Amtech Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Astera Labs and Amtech Systems”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astera Labs	$1.20 billion	45.79	$219.13 million	$2.02	157.04
Amtech Systems	$79.36 million	3.33	-$30.33 million	$0.26	58.04

Astera Labs has higher revenue and earnings than Amtech Systems. Amtech Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astera Labs, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Astera Labs has a beta of 3.84, indicating that its stock price is 284% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amtech Systems has a beta of 2.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Astera Labs and Amtech Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astera Labs	0	10	13	0	2.57
Amtech Systems	1	2	1	0	2.00

Astera Labs currently has a consensus target price of $325.25, suggesting a potential upside of 2.53%. Amtech Systems has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 45.79%. Given Amtech Systems’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Amtech Systems is more favorable than Astera Labs.

Profitability

This table compares Astera Labs and Amtech Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astera Labs	30.74%	19.24%	17.27%
Amtech Systems	4.90%	6.33%	4.00%

Summary

Astera Labs beats Amtech Systems on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astera Labs

Astera Labs, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. Its Intelligent Connectivity Platform is comprised of a portfolio of data, network, and memory connectivity products, which are built on a unifying software-defined architecture that enables customers to deploy and operate high performance cloud and AI infrastructure at scale. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

About Amtech Systems

Amtech Systems, Inc. manufactures and sells capital equipment and related consumables for use in fabricating silicon carbide (SiC), silicon power devices, analog and discrete devices, electronic assemblies, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) worldwide. The company operates through Semiconductor and Material and Substrate segments. The Semiconductor segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal processing equipment, including solder reflow ovens, horizontal diffusion furnaces, and custom high-temp belt furnaces for use by semiconductor, electronics, and electro/mechanical assembly manufacturers; and diffusion and reflow thermal systems, as well as wafer cleaning equipment and related services. The Material and Substrate segment manufactures and sells consumables and machinery for lapping and polishing of materials, such as silicon wafers for semiconductor products; sapphire substrates for LED lighting and mobile devices; silicon carbide wafers for LED and power device applications; various glass and silica components for 3D image transmission; quartz and ceramic components for telecommunications devices; and medical device components, and optical and photonics applications. It also offers substrate products comprising of double-sided wafer cleaning system, entegrity head tester, substrate carrier, substrate polishing templates, double-sided lapping and polishing machines, single-sided polisher, and substrate process chemicals. The company sells its products through sales personnel, as well as a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Amtech Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.