Reviewing Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) & AmpliTech Group (NASDAQ:AMPG)

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) and AmpliTech Group (NASDAQ:AMPG) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.4% of Harmonic shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.0% of AmpliTech Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Harmonic shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.8% of AmpliTech Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Harmonic and AmpliTech Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Harmonic	$678.72 million	1.47	$39.22 million	$0.59	14.85
AmpliTech Group	$9.51 million	6.51	-$11.24 million	($0.62)	-4.85

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

Profitability

This table compares Harmonic and AmpliTech Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Harmonic	9.96%	17.83%	10.23%
AmpliTech Group	-44.65%	-26.65%	-21.36%

Volatility and Risk

Harmonic has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, AmpliTech Group has a beta of -1, suggesting that its stock price is 200% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Harmonic and AmpliTech Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Harmonic	1	2	4	0	2.43
AmpliTech Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Harmonic currently has a consensus target price of $11.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 33.18%. AmpliTech Group has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 66.11%. Given AmpliTech Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AmpliTech Group is more favorable than Harmonic.

Summary

Harmonic beats AmpliTech Group on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Harmonic

Harmonic Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband solutions worldwide. The company operates through Broadband and Video segments. The Broadband segment sells broadband access solutions and related services, including cOS software-based broadband access solutions to broadband operators; and cOS central cloud services, a subscription service for cOS customers. The Video segment sells video processing, production, and playout solutions and services to cable operators, and satellite and telco Pay-TV service providers, as well as to broadcast and media, including streaming media companies. Its video processing appliance solutions include network management and application software, and hardware products, such as encoders, video servers, high-density stream processing systems, and edge processors. This segment also provides VOS360 SaaS platform that provides both streaming and channel origination and distribution services; and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, which enables the packaging and delivery of streaming services, including live streaming, VOD, catch-up TV, start-over TV, network-DVR and cloud-DVR services through HTTP streaming to various device along with dynamic and personal ad insertion. The company also provides technical support and professional services, such as maintenance and support, consulting, implementation, integration services, program management, technical design and planning, building and site preparation, integration and equipment installation, end-to-end system testing, and training, as well as SaaS-related support and deployment. It sells its products through its direct sales force, as well as through independent resellers and systems integrators. The company was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About AmpliTech Group

AmpliTech Group, Inc. designs, engineers, and assembles micro-wave component-based amplifiers. The company’s products include radio frequency (RF) amplifiers and related subsystems, such as low noise amplifiers for use in receivers of various communication systems comprising Wi-Fi, radar, satellite, base station, cell phone, radio, etc.; and medium power amplifiers that provide enhanced output power and gain in transceiver chains. It provides specialty microwave block downconverters used as a test device on satellite access point antennas; specialty microwave 1:2 Tx protection switch panels that is used in satellite communication earth stations; desktop/benchtop and compact wideband power amplifiers used in SATCOM rack mount systems, as well as test equipment used in integrators and manufacturers of various communications systems, such as cellular base stations, simulators, and point to point wireless radios; and waveguide to coaxial adapters for SATCOM and satellite internet gateway systems. In addition, the company offers cryogenic amplifiers for quantum computing, medical, RF imaging, research and development, space communications, accelerators, radiometry, and telephony applications; and cryogenic and non-cryogenic 4g/5g small cell subsystems for high-speed networks and airline Wi-Fi systems. Further, it provides custom assembly designs and non-recurring engineering services on a project-by-project basis, as well as IC packaging and lids products. The company serves aerospace, government, defense, commercial satellite, and wireless industries through sales representatives and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. AmpliTech Group, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Hauppauge, New York.