Showa Denko Materials (OTCMKTS:HCHMY) versus DS Smith (OTCMKTS:DITHF) Critical Analysis

DS Smith (OTCMKTS:DITHF) and Showa Denko Materials (OTCMKTS:HCHMY) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DS Smith and Showa Denko Materials”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DS Smith	$8.57 billion	1.16	$484.18 million	N/A	N/A
Showa Denko Materials	$5.81 billion	1.56	$150.89 million	$1.45	60.10

DS Smith has higher revenue and earnings than Showa Denko Materials.

Risk & Volatility

DS Smith has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Showa Denko Materials has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for DS Smith and Showa Denko Materials, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DS Smith	0	1	0	0	2.00
Showa Denko Materials	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares DS Smith and Showa Denko Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DS Smith	N/A	N/A	N/A
Showa Denko Materials	2.60%	3.82%	2.31%

About DS Smith

DS Smith Plc provides packaging solutions, paper products, and recycling services worldwide. The company offers transit and transport, consumer, retail and shelf ready, heavy duty, fiber base pallets, automotive standard, multi-material, dangerous goods, and e-commerce packaging, as well as packaging for food and drinks, health and beauty, apparel and footwear, home and DIY, and consumer electronics. It also provides various recycling and waste management services, including total waste management, paper and cardboard recycling, confidential shredding, and plastics recycling, as well as recycling solutions for the retail, manufacturing, print and publishing, paper mills, automotive, pharmaceutical, and public sectors. In addition, the company offers brown, white, and kraft liners; medium/fluting grades; dual-use grades; coated papers; and specialty papers, as well as technical and supply chain services, as well as point of sale display solutions and packaging machine systems. The company was formerly known as David S. Smith (Holdings) PLC and changed its name to DS Smith Plc in 2001. DS Smith Plc was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Showa Denko Materials

Showa Denko Materials Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells functional materials, and advanced components and systems in Japan and internationally. The company provides semiconductor related materials, such as chemical mechanical planarization slurry, high heat resistant fine polyimides, photosensitive insulation coatings, die bonding pastes and films, epoxy molding compounds, liquid encapsulants, cleaning sheets, high heat resistant coating materials, map molding support tapes, release sheets, and dicing films; and display and touch panel related materials, including anisotropic conductive films, transparent conductive transfer films, and adhesive films for displays. It also offers photovoltaic related materials comprising conductive films; advanced films, RFID tags, foam products, and food wrap films; lithium-ion batteries materials, carbon brushes, and ceramics; resins, adhesives and tapes, and electrical insulating materials; base and process materials for printed wiring boards (PWBs); and white epoxy molding compounds for LED reflectors. In addition, the company provides automotive products consisting of molded plastics, poly-sheets, carbon sliding materials, SPD films, protective films, automotive batteries, and powder metal products; and industrial batteries and capacitors, as well as electrical equipment, including DC power supply units and systems, and uninterruptible power supply products. Further, it provides PWBs, such as high layer PWBs, high density multi wiring boards, and PWBs for IC testers; allergy diagnostic kits, tear total IgE detection kits, in-vitro diagnostic kits, and exosomal mRNA isolation kits, as well as regenerative medicine contract development and manufacturing services; and golf carts. The company was formerly known as Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. As of April 20, 2020, Showa Denko Materials Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Showa Denko K.K.