Contrasting Vasta Platform (NASDAQ:VSTA) & Amprius Technologies (NYSE:AMPX)

Amprius Technologies (NYSE:AMPX) and Vasta Platform (NASDAQ:VSTA) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Amprius Technologies and Vasta Platform”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amprius Technologies	$24.17 million	42.31	-$44.67 million	($0.26)	-30.14
Vasta Platform	$310.48 million	1.28	$90.19 million	$1.02	4.84

Vasta Platform has higher revenue and earnings than Amprius Technologies. Amprius Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vasta Platform, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Amprius Technologies has a beta of 2.94, meaning that its share price is 194% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vasta Platform has a beta of -0.28, meaning that its share price is 128% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Amprius Technologies and Vasta Platform, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amprius Technologies	1	0	8	0	2.78
Vasta Platform	1	1	0	0	1.50

Amprius Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $14.57, indicating a potential upside of 85.93%. Given Amprius Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Amprius Technologies is more favorable than Vasta Platform.

Profitability

This table compares Amprius Technologies and Vasta Platform’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amprius Technologies	-53.16%	-38.85%	-23.93%
Vasta Platform	27.31%	1.53%	1.06%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.0% of Amprius Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.8% of Vasta Platform shares are held by institutional investors. 12.8% of Amprius Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Vasta Platform shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Vasta Platform beats Amprius Technologies on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amprius Technologies

Amprius Technologies, Inc. produces and sells ultra-high energy density lithium-ion batteries for mobility applications. The company offers silicon nanowire anode batteries. Its batteries are primarily used for existing and emerging aviation applications, including unmanned aerial systems, such as drones and high-altitude pseudo satellites. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About Vasta Platform

Vasta Platform Limited provides educational printed and digital solutions to private schools operating in the K-12 education sector in Brazil. The company offers digital and printed textbooks, teacher handbooks, exercise books, multidisciplinary subject books, and student evaluations; and PAR platform that allows schools to select their preferred books and materials and follow their own specific teaching methods. It also provides traditional learning systems under the Anglo, Pitágoras, Rede Cristã de Educação, Maxi Ético, Fibonacci, Mackenzie, and Amplia brands; ongoing training for educators; and services to partner schools, including consulting services for school management and the organization of events, and a proprietary and differentiated evaluation system for partner schools and their students. In addition, the company offers Plurall that provides a digital learning experience and allows for tailor-made adjustments for each school; Plurall Maestro that develops digital solutions to help educators in planning and conducting classes; PROFS, a teacher training program; O Líder em Mim, a program with content, methodology, teaching material, and training to develop leadership; English Stars, an English educational platform; EduAll, a bilingual program to enhance its current solutions; Plurall Olímpico, a content for scientific competitions; MindMakers to develop leadership, collaboration, and persistence through multidisciplinary problem-solving exercises; Matific that provides interactive learning environments and adaptable worksheets; Plurall Store; Plurall Adapta for adaptive learning sessions; Plurall MeuProf to connect students with professors for private tutoring; Prepara to prepare students for external assessments; Leader in Me to develop socio-emotional competencies of K12 students; Education Systems, a structured teaching system for K12 students and teachers; and Prepara ENEM. Vasta Platform Limited was founded in 1966 and is based in São Paulo, Brazil.