Critical Comparison: Creative Technology (OTCMKTS:CREAF) & Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT)

Creative Technology (OTCMKTS:CREAF) and Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Creative Technology and Socket Mobile”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Creative Technology	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Socket Mobile	$18.76 million	0.40	-$2.24 million	($0.38)	-2.49

Creative Technology has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Socket Mobile.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by institutional investors. 33.8% of Creative Technology shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Creative Technology and Socket Mobile, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Creative Technology	0	0	0	0	0.00
Socket Mobile	1	0	0	0	1.00

Profitability

This table compares Creative Technology and Socket Mobile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Creative Technology	N/A	N/A	N/A
Socket Mobile	-17.13%	-16.35%	-10.49%

Risk & Volatility

Creative Technology has a beta of -0.13, indicating that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Socket Mobile has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Socket Mobile beats Creative Technology on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Creative Technology

Creative Technology Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes digital entertainment products worldwide. The company offers digitized sound and video boards, computers, and related multimedia and personal digital entertainment products. It also provides headphones, gaming headsets, speakers, sound cards, sound blasters, work solutions, webcams, adapters and accessories, audio products, and others. In addition, the company offers multimedia solutions for personal computers products. It markets its products and solutions to consumers and system integrators through a distribution network, including traditional marketing channels, original equipment manufacturers, and the Internet. Creative Technology Ltd was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Socket Mobile

Socket Mobile, Inc. provides data capture and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its products and solutions are integrated into mobile applications for applications in the areas of point of sale, commercial services, asset tracking, manufacturing and quality control processes, transportation and logistics, event management, medical, and education. The company also offers cordless data capture devices that connect through Bluetooth and work with applications running on smartphones, mobile computers, and tablets; SocketScan and DuraScan 700 series, companion scanners and 800 series, attachable scanners, and wearables; and DuraSled, a barcode scanning sled that protects phones from impact damage and provides charging solutions. In addition, it offers D600, a handheld model to reads and writes various types of electronic SmartTags and transfers data with near-field communication (NFC); S550, a contactless membership card reader/writer; and S370 product that supports barcode scanning, and NFC reading and writing technologies. Further, the company provides SocketCam C820 and C860, which are camera-based barcode scanners; software developer kits, such as CaptureSDK that enables the App providers to modify captured data, control the placement of the barcoded or RFID data in their applications, and control the feedback to the user. It serves retail, commercial services, industrial and manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare industries through a network of distributors, online resellers, and application providers, as well as online stores. The company was formerly known as Socket Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Socket Mobile, Inc. in April 2008. Socket Mobile, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.