Ultralife (NASDAQ:ULBI) and Deswell Industries (NASDAQ:DSWL) Head-To-Head Survey

Deswell Industries (NASDAQ:DSWL) and Ultralife (NASDAQ:ULBI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Deswell Industries and Ultralife, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Deswell Industries	0	0	1	0	3.00
Ultralife	1	0	0	0	1.00

Risk & Volatility

Deswell Industries has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ultralife has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

30.7% of Ultralife shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.0% of Deswell Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 40.0% of Ultralife shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Deswell Industries and Ultralife’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Deswell Industries	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ultralife	0.92%	1.66%	1.02%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Deswell Industries and Ultralife”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Deswell Industries	$67.61 million	0.85	$11.14 million	$0.48	7.52
Ultralife	$164.46 million	0.59	$6.31 million	$0.10	58.60

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

Summary

Ultralife beats Deswell Industries on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Deswell Industries

Deswell Industries, Inc. manufactures and sells injection-molded plastic parts and components, electronic products and subassemblies, and metallic molds and accessory parts for original equipment manufacturers and contract manufacturers in China, the United States, Europe, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Plastic Injection Molding and Electronic Products Assembling. The company produces a range of plastic parts and components that are used in the manufacture of consumer and industrial products, which include plastic components for electronic entertainment products, power tools, accessories, and outdoor equipment; cases for flashlights, telephones, printers, scanners; parts for industrial components, and indoor control switches, as well as parts for audio equipment, and cases and key tops for personal organizers and remote controls; double injection caps; parts for medical products comprising apparatus for blood tests; laser key caps; automobile components; and plastic components of automatic robot. It also provides electronic products that consist of audio equipment, including digital and analogue audio mixers, amplifiers, signal processors, audio interfaces, network audio equipment, and speaker enclosures; consumer audio products, such as multi-channel receivers-amplifiers, wired and wireless audio streaming products, and headphones; printed circuit board assemblies; and medical products. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Macau.

About Ultralife

Ultralife Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, installs, and maintains power, and communication and electronics systems worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Battery & Energy Products and Communications Systems. The Battery & Energy Products segment offers lithium 9-volt, cylindrical, thin lithium manganese dioxide, rechargeable, and other non-rechargeable batteries; lithium-ion cells, multi-kilowatt module lithium-ion battery systems, and uninterruptable power supplies; and rugged military and commercial battery charging systems and accessories, including smart chargers, multi-bay charging systems, and various cables. The Communications Systems segment provides communications systems and accessories to support military communications systems, such as radio frequency amplifiers, power supplies and cables, connector assemblies, amplified speakers, equipment mounts, case equipment, man-portable systems, and integrated communication systems for fixed or vehicle applications comprising vehicle adapters, vehicle installed power enhanced rifleman appliqué systems, and SATCOM systems. This segment's military communications systems and accessories are designed to enhance and extend the operation of communications equipment, such as vehicle-mounted, manpack, and handheld transceivers. The company sells its products under the Ultralife, Ultralife HiRate, Ultralife Thin Cell, Ultralife Batteries, Lithium Power, McDowell Research, AMTITM, ABLETM, ACCUTRONICS, ACCUPRO, ENTELLION, SWE Southwest Electronic Energy Group, SWE SEASAFE, Excell Battery Group, and Criterion Gauge brands through original equipment manufacturers, and industrial and defense supply distributors. In addition, it sells its 9-volt battery to the broader consumer market through national and regional retail chains and online retailers. It serves government, defense, and commercial sectors. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Newark, New York.