Head-To-Head Analysis: QuickLogic (NASDAQ:QUIK) & Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB)

Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) and QuickLogic (NASDAQ:QUIK) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Astera Labs and QuickLogic, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astera Labs	0	10	11	0	2.52
QuickLogic	1	1	2	0	2.25

Astera Labs currently has a consensus price target of $348.33, suggesting a potential upside of 21.87%. QuickLogic has a consensus price target of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 133.85%. Given QuickLogic’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe QuickLogic is more favorable than Astera Labs.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.5% of Astera Labs shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.5% of QuickLogic shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of Astera Labs shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of QuickLogic shares are held 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.

Volatility and Risk

Astera Labs has a beta of 3.68, indicating that its stock price is 268% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, QuickLogic has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Astera Labs and QuickLogic”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astera Labs	$1.20 billion	41.26	$219.13 million	$2.02	141.50
QuickLogic	$13.77 million	11.95	-$14.82 million	($0.77)	-11.66

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

Profitability

This table compares Astera Labs and QuickLogic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astera Labs	30.74%	19.24%	17.27%
QuickLogic	-80.18%	-45.22%	-27.93%

Summary

Astera Labs beats QuickLogic on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astera Labs

Astera Labs, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. Its Intelligent Connectivity Platform is comprised of a portfolio of data, network, and memory connectivity products, which are built on a unifying software-defined architecture that enables customers to deploy and operate high performance cloud and AI infrastructure at scale. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

About QuickLogic

QuickLogic Corporation operates as a fabless semiconductor company in the United States. The company offers embedded FPGA intellectual property, low power, multicore semiconductor system-on-chips, discrete FPGAs, and AI software; and end-to-end artificial intelligence/machine learning solution with accurate sensor algorithms using AI technology. It provides various platforms, such as software tools and eFPGA IP enables the adoption of AI, voice, and sensor processing across aerospace, and defense, consumer/industrial IOT, and consumer electronics markets. In addition, the company engages in the eFPGA IP Licensing business consisting of development and integration of eFPGA technology into custom semiconductor solutions. Further, the company offers silicon products, such as EOS, QuickAI, ArcticLink III, PolarPro 3, PolarPro II, PolarPro, and Eclipse II products; and PASIC 3 and QuickRAM, as well as programming hardware and design software services. The company markets and sells its products to defense industrial base contractors, U.S. government entities, system OEMs, and fabless semiconductor companies through a network of sales managers and distributors in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. It has a strategic partnership with YorChip to develop low-power unified chiplet interconnect express FPGA chiplets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.