Analyzing Wi-LAN (OTCMKTS:QTRHF) & Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK)

Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Wi-LAN (OTCMKTS:QTRHF) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Sandisk and Wi-LAN’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sandisk	-11.66%	10.11%	7.42%
Wi-LAN	-12.64%	-16.03%	-8.71%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sandisk and Wi-LAN”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sandisk	$7.36 billion	11.82	-$1.64 billion	($7.59)	-77.57
Wi-LAN	$153.30 million	0.62	-$11.02 million	($0.17)	-4.71

Wi-LAN has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sandisk. Sandisk is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wi-LAN, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Sandisk and Wi-LAN, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sandisk	1	6	14	2	2.74
Wi-LAN	0	0	1	0	3.00

Sandisk presently has a consensus target price of $542.85, suggesting a potential downside of 7.80%. Given Sandisk’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Sandisk is more favorable than Wi-LAN.

Summary

Sandisk beats Wi-LAN on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sandisk

SanDisk Corporation offers flash storage solutions. The Company designs, develops and manufactures data storage solutions in a range of form factors using flash memory, controller, firmware and software technologies. The Company operates through flash memory storage products segment. Its solutions include a range of solid state drives (SSD), embedded products, removable cards, universal serial bus (USB), drives, wireless media drives, digital media players, and wafers and components. It offers SSDs for client computing applications, which encompass desktop computers, notebook computers, tablets and other computing devices. Its embedded products are used for embedded storage for mobile phones, tablets, notebooks and other portable and wearable devices, as well as in automotive and connected home applications. Its removable products include cards, USB flash drives, Wireless Drives and Digital Media Players at a range of storage capacities. It sells memory wafers and memory components.

About Wi-LAN

Quarterhill Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates in intelligent transportation system business in Canada and internationally. The company offers riteSuite, which offers mobility solutions, such as all-electronic tolling, dynamic pricing, agency interoperability, hosted mobility solutions, and machine learning; back-office solutions, which offers account management, customer service, violation processing, and technical services operations; roadside solutions, which offers onsite and remote maintenance and field operations services, including tolling facility support, lane equipment control, and cash management services; and international road dynamics products and services, which offers automated truck weigh stations, toll road systems and equipment, red light and speed enforcement systems, and traffic management and safety systems. It also provides VectorSense, a tire sensor suite; Vehicle Information-In-Motion traffic intelligence system, an integrated traffic control system; permanent Weigh-InMotion systems; portable slow speed Weigh-In-Motion systems; portable wheel load scales; traffic data collection products, vehicle and axle detection equipment, and automated vehicle identification services and equipment; and other hardware and software products and offerings. The company was formerly known as Wi-LAN Inc. and changed its name to Quarterhill Inc. in June 2017. Quarterhill Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.