Head-To-Head Analysis: Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) & ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR)

Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) and ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.8% of Himax Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of ACM Research shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.5% of Himax Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.4% of ACM Research shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Himax Technologies has a beta of 2.34, suggesting that its share price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ACM Research has a beta of 2.09, suggesting that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Himax Technologies and ACM Research, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Himax Technologies	0	3	0	0	2.00
ACM Research	0	1	5	0	2.83

Himax Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential downside of 39.85%. ACM Research has a consensus price target of $122.75, indicating a potential upside of 71.99%. Given ACM Research’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ACM Research is more favorable than Himax Technologies.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Himax Technologies and ACM Research”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Himax Technologies	$828.63 million	2.80	$43.94 million	$0.21	63.33
ACM Research	$901.31 million	5.12	$94.08 million	$2.10	33.99

ACM Research has higher revenue and earnings than Himax Technologies. ACM Research is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Himax Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Himax Technologies and ACM Research’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Himax Technologies	4.26%	3.90%	2.04%
ACM Research	14.48%	4.08%	2.80%

Summary

ACM Research beats Himax Technologies on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Himax Technologies

Himax Technologies, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Driver IC and Non-Driver Products. It offers display driver integrated circuits (ICs) and timing controllers that are used in televisions, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, and other products. The company also provides automotive IC solutions, including traditional driver ICs; advanced in-cell touch and display driver integration; large touch and display driver integration; and local dimming timing controllers, as well as active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) solutions, including AMOLED drivers, timing controllers, and touch controller ICs. In addition, it offers application specific IC services; liquid crystal on silicon and micro-electro mechanical system products; Power ICs; complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor products; wafer level optics products; 3D sensing products; and ultralow power WiseEye smart image sensing products. The company markets its display drivers to panel manufacturers, mobile device module manufacturers, and manufacturers of end-use products. Himax Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan City, Taiwan.

About ACM Research

ACM Research, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells single-wafer wet cleaning equipment for enhancing the manufacturing process and yield for integrated chips worldwide. It offers space alternated phase shift technology for flat and patterned wafer surfaces, which employs alternating phases of megasonic waves to deliver megasonic energy in a uniform manner on a microscopic level; timely energized bubble oscillation technology for patterned wafer surfaces at advanced process nodes, which provides cleaning for 2D and 3D patterned wafers; Tahoe technology for delivering cleaning performance using less sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide; and electro-chemical plating technology for advanced metal plating. The company markets and sells its products under the SAPS, TEBO, ULTRA C, ULTRA Fn, Ultra ECP, Ultra ECP map, and Ultra ECP ap trademarks through direct sales force and third-party representatives. ACM Research, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.