Head-To-Head Review: GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS) vs. SUMCO (OTCMKTS:SUOPY)

GCT Semiconductor (NYSE:GCTS) and SUMCO (OTCMKTS:SUOPY) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

GCT Semiconductor has a beta of 1.78, meaning that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SUMCO has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its stock price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and SUMCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GCT Semiconductor	-1,301.99%	N/A	-189.45%
SUMCO	-6.60%	-4.24%	-2.41%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares GCT Semiconductor and SUMCO”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GCT Semiconductor	$2.87 million	66.17	-$43.37 million	($0.80)	-2.58
SUMCO	$2.74 billion	2.95	-$78.72 million	($1.03)	-44.83

GCT Semiconductor has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SUMCO. SUMCO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GCT Semiconductor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for GCT Semiconductor and SUMCO, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GCT Semiconductor	1	0	2	0	2.33
SUMCO	0	1	1	0	2.50

GCT Semiconductor currently has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 69.49%. Given GCT Semiconductor’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe GCT Semiconductor is more favorable than SUMCO.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

28.1% of GCT Semiconductor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of SUMCO shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of GCT Semiconductor 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.

Summary

GCT Semiconductor beats SUMCO on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GCT Semiconductor

GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc., operates as a fabless semiconductor company, designs, develops, and markets integrated circuits for the wireless semiconductor industry. The company provides RF and modem chipsets based on 4G LTE technology, including 4G LTE, 4.5G LTE Advanced, and 4.75G LTE Advanced-Pro. It also develops and sells cellular IoT chipsets for low-speed mobile networks such as eMTC/NB-IOT/Sigfox, and other network protocols; and 5G solutions. Its products and solutions are used in smartphones, tablets, hotspots, CPEs, USB dongles, routers, and M2M applications. The company sells its products directly or indirectly through distributors to original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers primarily in Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan, Europe, North America and South America. The company was formerly known as Global Communication Technology, Inc. GCT Semiconductor Holding, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About SUMCO

Sumco Corporation manufactures and sells silicon wafers for the semiconductor industry in Japan, the United States, China, Taiwan, Korea, and internationally. It provides monocrystalline ingots, as well as polished, annealed, epitaxial, junction isolated, silicon-on-insulator, and reclaimed polished wafers. The company was formerly known as Sumitomo Mitsubishi Silicon Corp. and changed its name to Sumco Corporation in August 2005. Sumco Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.