SEALSQ (NASDAQ:LAES) versus AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Critical Survey

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) and SEALSQ (NASDAQ:LAES) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for AXT and SEALSQ, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AXT	1	0	3	0	2.50
SEALSQ	1	0	0	0	1.00

AXT presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential downside of 25.62%. Given AXT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe AXT is more favorable than SEALSQ.

Profitability

This table compares AXT and SEALSQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AXT	-25.22%	-11.19%	-6.83%
SEALSQ	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

AXT has a beta of 1.97, suggesting that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SEALSQ has a beta of -12.51, suggesting that its share price is 1,351% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.5% of AXT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of SEALSQ shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of AXT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AXT and SEALSQ”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AXT	$99.36 million	5.68	-$11.62 million	($0.52)	-23.27
SEALSQ	$10.98 million	82.08	-$21.20 million	N/A	N/A

AXT has higher revenue and earnings than SEALSQ.

Summary

AXT beats SEALSQ on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AXT

AXT, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging. It also provides semi-insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates for use in Wi-Fi and IoT devices, transistors, direct broadcast television, power amplifiers, satellite communications, and solar cells; and semi-conducting GaAs substrates that are used in LEDs, screen displays using micro-LEDs, printer head lasers and LEDs, 3-D sensing using VCSELs, data center communication using VCSELs, sensors for industrial robotics/near-infrared sensors, optical couplers, solar cells, night vision goggles, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and other lasers, as well as laser machining, cutting, and drilling. In addition, the company offers germanium substrates for use in multi-junction solar cells for satellites, optical sensors and detectors, terrestrial concentrated photo voltaic cells, infrared detectors, and carrier wafer for LED. Further, it provides 6N+ and 7N+ purified gallium, boron trioxide, gallium-magnesium alloy, pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) crucibles, and pBN insulating parts. It sells its products through direct salesforce in the United States, China, and Europe, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and internationally. The company was formerly known as American Xtal Technology, Inc. and changed its name to AXT, Inc. in July 2000. AXT, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About SEALSQ

SEALSQ Corp, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets semiconductor chips in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers semiconductors, such as VaultIC secure elements, secure arm platform, and smart card reader chips; identity provisioning services, such as IoT device provisioning and chip provisioning; and managed PKI for IoT solutions and trust services. The company provides device-to-cloud authentication, device attestation for matter, GSMA root certificate, device-to-device authentication, data protection, anti-counterfeiting and brand protection, security access, device ID provisioning, identity lifecycle management, and satellite IoT connectivity solutions. Its products are used in various applications, such as smart energy, smart home, automotive EV charging, consumer IoT, aerospace and military, telecommunications, logistics, medical, luxury, and other industrial applications. SEALSQ Corp was founded in 2022 and is based in Cointrin, Switzerland.