Financial Survey: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) versus Quantum-Si (NASDAQ:QSI)

Quantum-Si (NASDAQ:QSI) and nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Quantum-Si and nLight, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quantum-Si	1	1	2	0	2.25
nLight	1	1	8	1	2.82

Quantum-Si currently has a consensus price target of $3.25, indicating a potential upside of 276.59%. nLight has a consensus price target of $58.31, indicating a potential downside of 3.70%. Given Quantum-Si’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Quantum-Si is more favorable than nLight.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

39.9% of Quantum-Si shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.9% of nLight shares are held by institutional investors. 30.0% of Quantum-Si shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of nLight shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Quantum-Si and nLight’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quantum-Si	-4,160.06%	-43.90%	-39.30%
nLight	-8.98%	-9.28%	-6.77%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Quantum-Si and nLight”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quantum-Si	$3.18 million	58.54	-$101.01 million	($0.52)	-1.66
nLight	$261.33 million	12.93	-$23.47 million	($0.47)	-128.83

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

Volatility and Risk

Quantum-Si has a beta of 3, indicating that its share price is 200% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, nLight has a beta of 2.27, indicating that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

nLight beats Quantum-Si on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quantum-Si

Quantum-Si incorporated, a life sciences company, engages in the development of single-molecule detection platform to enable Next Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS). The company's platform is comprised of the Platinum NGPS instrument; the Platinum Analysis Software service; and reagent kits and semiconductor chips for use with its instruments. It is used in protein identification, protein variants, antibody characterization, biomarker identification, and post translational modification analysis applications. The company was founded in 2013 is headquartered in Branford, Connecticut.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.