Critical Contrast: Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) & Location Based Technologies (OTCMKTS:LBAS)

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) and Location Based Technologies (OTCMKTS:LBAS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.3% of Flex shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Flex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.1% of Location Based Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Flex and Location Based Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex	0	3	9	0	2.75
Location Based Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Flex currently has a consensus target price of $72.30, indicating a potential downside of 15.08%. Given Flex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Flex is more favorable than Location Based Technologies.

Risk and Volatility

Flex has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Location Based Technologies has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Flex and Location Based Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex	$25.81 billion	1.21	$838.00 million	$2.23	38.18
Location Based Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Flex has higher revenue and earnings than Location Based Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Flex and Location Based Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex	3.17%	20.99%	5.46%
Location Based Technologies	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Flex beats Location Based Technologies on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flex

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices. Its FRS segment provides complex ramps with specialized production models and critical environments, which comprise automotive including next generation mobility, autonomous, connectivity, electrification, and smart technologies; health solutions, such as medical devices, medical equipment, and drug delivery; and industrial solutions including capital equipment, industrial devices, and renewables and grid edge. The Nextracker segment offers solar tracker and software solutions, which are used in utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects. In addition, it provides a broad array of services including design and engineering, component services, rapid prototyping, fulfillment, and circular economy solutions. The company was formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd. and changed its name to Flex Ltd. in September 2016. Flex Ltd. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Location Based Technologies

Location Based Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and sells commercial and consumer wearable global positioning system (GPS) tracking solutions based on worldwide GSM network. It offers consumer products under the PocketFinder brand, including PocketFinder, PocketFinder luggage, PocketFinder Pet, and PocketFinder Vehicle that displays information to users regarding device location, longitude, latitude, altitude, heading or direction, speed, and 60 days of location history; and set alerts that will trigger an email, text, or push notification to notify them when their device exceeds a pre-determined parameter, such as speed, battery life, or entry/exit of a geo-zone. The company's PocketFinder Personal/Pet or luggage devices include small devices that are ideal for tracking or locating any mobile asset, person, pet, or valuable item; and PocketFinder Vehicle tracker is to be hardwired to any powered asset, such as vehicle, watercraft, or mobile generator to locate and track a mobile assets. It also provides commercial products under the LBT brand, including LBT-886 and LBT Vehicle Tracker. The company's LBT-886 comprises location device that enables a user to locate and track any person or mobile asset; and LBT Vehicle Tracker provides tracking features with capabilities, such as temperature, light and humidity monitoring, engine on/off monitoring, and starter interrupt engine capability or lone worker emergency alerts. It markets and sells its commercial products to small/midsize businesses, enterprise businesses, and governmental organizations that need to track vehicles, mobile equipment, portable assets, and workers through online retailers, as well as through its pocketfinder.com Website. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Irvine, California.