Contrasting Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI) and Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU)

Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI) and Niu Technologies (NASDAQ:NIU) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Hesai Group has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Niu Technologies has a beta of -0.35, indicating that its stock price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Hesai Group and Niu Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hesai Group	15.70%	8.04%	5.94%
Niu Technologies	-0.48%	-2.32%	-0.74%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Hesai Group and Niu Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hesai Group	$2.75 billion	1.32	-$14.02 million	$0.42	65.74
Niu Technologies	$4.45 billion	0.06	-$26.47 million	($0.05)	-69.00

Hesai Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Niu Technologies. Niu Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hesai Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.5% of Hesai Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Niu Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 10.2% of Niu Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Hesai Group and Niu Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hesai Group	0	1	6	2	3.11
Niu Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00

Hesai Group currently has a consensus target price of $30.80, suggesting a potential upside of 11.55%. Given Hesai Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Hesai Group is more favorable than Niu Technologies.

Summary

Hesai Group beats Niu Technologies on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hesai Group

Hesai Group, through with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of three-dimensional light detection and ranging solutions (LiDAR). Its LiDAR products are used in passenger and commercial vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems; autonomous passenger and freight mobility services; and other applications, such as delivery robots, street sweeping robots, and logistics robots in restricted areas. Hesai Group was founded in 2014 and is based in Shanghai, China.

About Niu Technologies

Niu Technologies designs, manufactures, and sells electric scooters in the People’s Republic of China, Europe, and internationally. The company offers RQi, NQi, MQi, SQi, UQi, F, and Gova series smart electric scooters, motorcycles, mopeds, and bicycles; KQi series kick-scooters; BQi series e-bikes; and Niu Aero Sports Bicycles. It also provides accessories and spare parts under the NIU brand name comprising scooter accessories, such as raincoats, gloves, knee pads, storage baskets and tail boxes, smart phone holders, backrests, and locks; lifestyle accessories, which includes T-shirts, coats, jeans, hats, bags, jewelry, notebooks, badges, key chain, and mugs; and performance upgrade components consisting of upgraded wheels, shock absorbers, brake calipers, and carbon fiber body panels. In addition, the company operates NIU app, which provides online repair request, service station locator, theft reporting, smart check, smart services, scooter status, historical riding data, and key diagnostics, as well as NIU cover, which provides insurance services. It sells and services its products through city partners and franchised stores, distributors, third-party e-commerce platforms, and its online store. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.