Analyzing Spectaire (NASDAQ:SPEC) & Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB)

Spectaire (NASDAQ:SPEC) and Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Spectaire has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Laboratories has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Spectaire and Mesa Laboratories’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spectaire	N/A	N/A	-$1.76 million	N/A	N/A
Mesa Laboratories	$219.08 million	2.26	$930,000.00	$0.33	278.52

Mesa Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than Spectaire.

Profitability

This table compares Spectaire and Mesa Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spectaire	N/A	N/A	-6.00%
Mesa Laboratories	0.83%	9.36%	5.50%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Spectaire and Mesa Laboratories, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spectaire	0	0	0	0	N/A
Mesa Laboratories	0	0	0	0	N/A

Mesa Laboratories has a consensus target price of $166.00, indicating a potential upside of 80.61%. Given Mesa Laboratories’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Mesa Laboratories is more favorable than Spectaire.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.1% of Spectaire shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.1% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 70.1% of Spectaire shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Mesa Laboratories beats Spectaire on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spectaire

Spectaire Holdings Inc. operates as an industrial technology company. Its industrial technology allows its customers to measure, manage, and reduce carbon dioxide equivalent and other greenhouse gas emissions. Its core offering, AireCore, is an integrated hardware, software, and data platform. The company is based in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Mesa Laboratories

Mesa Laboratories, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells life sciences tools and quality control products and services in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Clinical Genomics, Sterilization and Disinfection Control, Biopharmaceutical Development, and Calibration Solutions. The Clinical Genomics segment develops, manufactures, and sells genetic analysis tools that include MassARRAY system and consumables, including chips, panels, and chemical reagent solutions used by clinical labs to perform genomic clinical testing in various therapeutic areas, such as screenings for hereditary diseases, pharmacogenetics, and oncology related applications. The Sterilization and Disinfection Control segment manufactures and sells biological, cleaning, and chemical indicators that are used to assess the effectiveness of sterilization and disinfection processes in the hospital, dental, medical device, and pharmaceutical industries. This segment also provides testing and laboratory services primarily to the dental industry. The Biopharmaceutical Development segment develops, manufactures, and sells automated systems for protein analysis and peptide synthesis solutions. This segment's solutions include protein analysis comprising analysis equipment, CDs, kits, and buffers; and peptide synthesizers that enable customers to automate chemical synthesis of peptides that are used in the creation of peptide therapies, biomaterials, cosmetics, and general research. The Calibration Solutions segment designs, manufactures, and markets quality control products to measure or calibrate temperature, pressure, pH, and humidity for health and safety purposes in the hospital, medical device manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and various laboratory environments. This segment's products include continuous monitoring systems, dialysate meters and consumables, data loggers, gas flow calibration and air sampling equipment, and torque testing systems. The company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.