American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC – Get Free Report) and Orbit International (OTCMKTS:ORBT – Get Free Report) 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, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.
Volatility and Risk
American Superconductor has a beta of 3.01, indicating that its share price is 201% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orbit International has a beta of 0.09, indicating that its share price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
52.3% of American Superconductor shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of American Superconductor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Orbit International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Superconductor | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Orbit International | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
American Superconductor presently has a consensus price target of $39.00, indicating a potential downside of 34.37%. Given American Superconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe American Superconductor is more favorable than Orbit International.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares American Superconductor and Orbit International”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Superconductor | $254.89 million | 10.53 | $6.03 million | $0.39 | 152.36 |
| Orbit International | $29.90 million | 0.48 | -$650,000.00 | ($0.95) | -4.32 |
American Superconductor has higher revenue and earnings than Orbit International. Orbit International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Superconductor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares American Superconductor and Orbit International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Superconductor | 6.00% | 9.35% | 6.20% |
| Orbit International | -11.59% | -19.05% | -13.10% |
Summary
American Superconductor beats Orbit International on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Superconductor
American Superconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides megawatt-scale power resiliency solutions worldwide. The company operates through Grid and Wind segments. The Grid segment offers products and services that enable electric utilities, industrial facilities, and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit, and distribute power under the Gridtec Solutions brand. It provides transmission planning services, which identify power grid congestion, poor power quality, and other risks; grid interconnection solutions for wind farms and solar power plants, power quality systems, and transmission and distribution cable systems; D-VAR systems used for controlling power flow and voltage in the AC transmission system; actiVAR system, a fast-switching medium-voltage reactive compensation solution; armorVAR system installed for reactive compensation, power factor correction, loss reduction, utility bill savings, and mitigation of common power quality concerns related to power converter-based generation and load devices; and D-VAR volt var optimization (VVO) that serves the distribution power grid market. This segment also offers ship protection systems, which reduce a naval ship’s magnetic signature; and ON board power delivery systems, power generation systems, and propulsion systems; and transformers and rectifiers systems. The Wind segment designs wind turbine systems and licenses these designs to third parties under the Windtec Solutions brand. It also supplies power electronics and software-based control systems, engineered designs, and support services; and provides customer support services to wind turbine manufacturers. This segment’s design portfolio comprises a range of drivetrains and power ratings of 2 megawatts and higher. American Superconductor Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Ayer, Massachusetts.
About Orbit International
Orbit International Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of electronic components and subsystems, and commercial and custom power units for prime contractors, government procurement agencies, and research and development laboratories worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Electronics Group and Power Group. The Electronics Group segment designs, manufactures, and sells customized electronic components and subsystems. This segment offers remote control units, intercommunication panels, displays, keyboards, keypads and pointing devices, operator control trays, and command display units, as well as provides LCD display modules, military simulation and training bezels, electronic control assemblies, and multi-function displays design and enhancement services. The Power Group segment designs and manufactures commercial power units, AC power, frequency converters, uninterruptible power supplies, armament systems, and commercial-off-the-shelf power solutions, as well as inverters. The company was formerly known as Orbit Instrument Corp. and changed its name to Orbit International Corp. in July 1991. Orbit International Corp. was founded in 1957 and is based in Hauppauge, New York.
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