Head-To-Head Comparison: Lear (NYSE:LEA) & Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM)

Lear (NYSE:LEA) and Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Lear shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Beam Global shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Lear shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Beam Global shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lear and Beam Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lear	1.88%	13.40%	4.58%
Beam Global	-105.89%	-61.03%	-37.12%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Lear and Beam Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lear	0	9	3	1	2.38
Beam Global	1	1	3	0	2.40

Lear presently has a consensus target price of $138.27, suggesting a potential upside of 2.65%. Beam Global has a consensus target price of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 170.27%. Given Beam Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Beam Global is more favorable than Lear.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lear and Beam Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lear	$23.26 billion	0.29	$436.80 million	$8.15	16.53
Beam Global	$49.34 million	0.57	-$11.28 million	($1.91)	-0.77

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

Risk and Volatility

Lear has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beam Global has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lear beats Beam Global on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lear

Lear Corporation designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, assembles, and supplies automotive seating, and electrical distribution systems and related components for automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Its Seating segment offers seat systems, seat subsystems, keyseat components, seat trim covers, seat mechanisms, seat foams, and headrests, as well as surface materials, such as leather and fabric for automobiles and light trucks, compact cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles. The company’s E-Systems segment provides electrical distribution and connection systems that route electrical signals and networks; and manage electrical power within the vehicle for various powertrains. This segment’s products comprise wire harnesses, terminals and connectors, engineered components, and junction boxes; electronic system products, including body domain control modules, smart and passive junction boxes, gateway and communication modules, integrated power modules, and high voltage switching and power control systems. It also offers software and connected services comprising Xevo Market, an in-vehicle commerce and service platform; and software and services for the cloud, vehicles, and mobile devices. In addition, this segment provides cybersecurity software; advanced vehicle positioning for automated and autonomous driving applications; and short-range communication and cellular protocols for vehicle connectivity. It offers its products and services under the XEVO, GUILFORD, EAGLE OTTAWA, ConfigurE+, INTUTM, LEAR CONNEXUSTM, EXO, JOURNEYWARE, ProTec, SMART JUNCTION BOX, STRUCSURE, AVENTINO, and TeXstyle brands. Lear Corporation was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan.

About Beam Global

Beam Global, a clean-technology innovation company, engages in the design, development, engineering, manufacture, and sale of renewably energized infrastructure products and battery solutions. Its product portfolio includes EV ARC (electric vehicle autonomous renewable charger), an infrastructure product that uses integrated solar power and battery storage to provide a mounting asset and a source of power for factory installed electric vehicle charging stations; Solar Tree DCFC, an off-grid, renewably energized, and single-column mounted smart generation and energy storage system to provide a 150kW DC fast charge to one or more electric vehicles, such as electric buses, heavy-duty vehicles, agricultural equipment, public transportation, and electric vehicles used in the construction industry; and EV ARC DCFC, a DC fast charging system for charging EVs. The company is also involved in the development of EV-Standard, a lamp standard, EV charging, and emergency power product that uses an existing streetlamp's foundation and a combination of solar, wind, grid connection, and onboard energy storage to provide curbside charging; and UAV ARC, an off-grid and renewably energized product and network used to charge aerial drone (UAV) fleets. It offers its solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy security, disaster preparedness, street lighting, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, and outdoor media and branding industries. The company was formerly known as Envision Solar International, Inc. and changed its name to Beam Global in September 2020. Beam Global was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.