Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ:LSCC) & Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) Critical Comparison

Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ:LSCC) and Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Lattice Semiconductor and Ichor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lattice Semiconductor	10.51%	9.24%	7.78%
Ichor	-1.84%	-0.63%	-0.45%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.1% of Lattice Semiconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Ichor shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Lattice Semiconductor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Ichor shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Lattice Semiconductor and Ichor, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lattice Semiconductor	1	0	11	0	2.83
Ichor	0	2	4	0	2.67

Lattice Semiconductor presently has a consensus target price of $63.15, indicating a potential upside of 27.10%. Ichor has a consensus target price of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 97.56%. Given Ichor’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ichor is more favorable than Lattice Semiconductor.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lattice Semiconductor and Ichor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lattice Semiconductor	$509.40 million	13.41	$61.13 million	$0.37	134.30
Ichor	$849.04 million	0.69	-$20.82 million	($0.48)	-35.85

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

Risk and Volatility

Lattice Semiconductor has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ichor has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lattice Semiconductor beats Ichor on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops and sells semiconductor products in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The company offers field programmable gate arrays that consist of four product families, including the Lattice Certus and ECP, Mach, iCE, and CrossLink. It also provides video connectivity application specific standard products. In addition, the company licenses its technology portfolio through standard IP and IP core licensing, patent monetization, and IP services. It sells its products directly to customers, and indirectly through a network of independent manufacturers' representatives and independent distributors. The company primarily serves original equipment manufacturers in the communications and computing, consumer, and industrial, and automotive markets. Lattice Semiconductor Corporation was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.

About Ichor

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. engages in the design, engineering, and manufacture of fluid delivery subsystems and components for semiconductor capital equipment in the United States and internationally. It primarily offers gas and chemical delivery systems and subsystems that are used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. The company's gas delivery subsystems deliver, monitor, and control gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, such as etch and deposition; and chemical delivery subsystems blend and dispense the reactive liquid chemistries used in semiconductor manufacturing processes comprising chemical-mechanical planarization, electroplating, and cleaning. In addition, it manufactures precision machined components, weldments, electron beam, laser-welded components, precision vacuum and hydrogen brazing, surface treatment technologies, and other proprietary products. The company primarily markets its products to equipment OEMs in the semiconductor equipment market in Japan. Ichor Holdings, Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.