Critical Analysis: UTStarcom (NASDAQ:UTSI) vs. Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS)

UTStarcom (NASDAQ:UTSI) and Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

UTStarcom has a beta of 0.13, meaning that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Altice USA has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares UTStarcom and Altice USA”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UTStarcom	$9.79 million	2.46	-$4.37 million	N/A	N/A
Altice USA	$8.95 billion	0.13	-$102.92 million	($0.58)	-4.21

UTStarcom has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Altice USA.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.8% of UTStarcom shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.9% of Altice USA shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of UTStarcom shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.6% of Altice USA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares UTStarcom and Altice USA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UTStarcom	N/A	N/A	N/A
Altice USA	-3.07%	N/A	-0.85%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for UTStarcom and Altice USA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UTStarcom	0	0	0	0	0.00
Altice USA	1	1	3	0	2.40

Altice USA has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.95%. Given Altice USA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Altice USA is more favorable than UTStarcom.

Summary

Altice USA beats UTStarcom on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UTStarcom

UTStarcom Holdings Corp. operates as a telecom infrastructure provider to develop technology for bandwidth from cloud-based services, mobile, streaming, and other applications in China, India, Japan, and internationally. Its products include converged packet transport, disaggregated router platform, packet transport network, packet aggregation network, multi-services access network, fiber to the X, carrier Wi-Fi solutions, and software defined network controller products. The company also offers packet optical and network synchronization products. It serves telecommunications operators and equipment distributors. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China.

About Altice USA

Altice USA, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband communications and video services in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It offers broadband, video, telephony, and mobile services to residential and business customers. The company's video services include delivery of broadcast stations and cable networks; over the top services; video-on-demand, high-definition channels, digital video recorder, and pay-per-view services; and platforms for video programming through mobile applications. In addition, it provides voice over Internet protocol telephone services; and mobile services, such as data, talk, and text. Further, the company offers Ethernet, data transport, IP-based virtual private networks, Internet access, and telephony services; hosted telephony services, managed Wi-Fi, managed desktop and server backup, and collaboration services comprising audio and web conferencing; fiber-to-the-tower services to wireless carriers; data services consisting of wide area networking and dedicated data access, as well as wireless mesh networks; and enterprise class telephone services that include traditional multi-line phone service. Additionally, it provides hosted private branch exchange, network security, and international calling and toll-free numbers services. Furthermore, the company offers audience-based and multiscreen advertising solutions; data analytics; and news programming services, as well as operates news channels under the News 12 Networks, Cheddar, and i24NEWS names. It also provides broadband communications and video services under the Optimum and Suddenlink brands. Altice USA, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Long Island City, New York.