SES AI (NYSE:SES) & XCHG (NASDAQ:XCH) Critical Review

XCHG (NASDAQ:XCH) and SES AI (NYSE:SES) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

XCHG has a beta of -1.43, meaning that its stock price is 243% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SES AI has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares XCHG and SES AI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
XCHG	N/A	N/A	N/A
SES AI	-289.64%	-26.21%	-20.78%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

29.8% of SES AI shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.7% of SES AI shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for XCHG and SES AI, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
XCHG	1	1	0	0	1.50
SES AI	1	1	1	0	2.00

SES AI has a consensus target price of $2.55, indicating a potential upside of 232.90%. Given SES AI’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SES AI is more favorable than XCHG.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares XCHG and SES AI”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
XCHG	$25.10 million	0.78	-$32.50 million	($1.60)	-3.00
SES AI	$21.00 million	13.54	-$73.04 million	($0.20)	-3.83

XCHG has higher revenue and earnings than SES AI. SES AI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than XCHG, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SES AI beats XCHG on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About XCHG

XCHG Limited, branded as XCharge, is a company whose subsidiaries design, manufacture, and sell electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions under the X-Charge name in Europe, China, the United States, and other international markets. The company focuses on DC fast-charging infrastructure, including its C6 and C7 series chargers and Net Zero battery-integrated fast-charging systems, and also provides related software upgrades and hardware maintenance services for EV manufacturers, energy companies, and charge point operators. Founded in 2015, XCHG positions itself as a global provider of integrated EV charging solutions that combine high-power charging with smart energy management.

About SES AI

SES AI Corporation engages in the development and production of high-performance Lithium-metal rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, electric vehicle take-off and landing, and other applications. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.