Financial Comparison: SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRW) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI)

SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRW) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) are both energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by 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 Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for SunPower and Ascent Solar Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SunPower	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ascent Solar Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00

Ascent Solar Technologies has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 551.47%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than SunPower.

Profitability

This table compares SunPower and Ascent Solar Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SunPower	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ascent Solar Technologies	-7,311.40%	-127.37%	-86.27%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SunPower and Ascent Solar Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SunPower	$294.38 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ascent Solar Technologies	$113,093.00	266.46	-$7.83 million	($2.46)	-1.25

SunPower has higher revenue and earnings than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Summary

Ascent Solar Technologies beats SunPower on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SunPower

Complete Solaria, Inc. provides solar technology and installation services. It offers solar panel designing and installation services, as well as develops a solar digital platform for homeowners and installers. The company also provide financing for solar panels. Complete Solaria, Inc. is based in Fremont, California.

About Ascent Solar Technologies

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.