Head-To-Head Review: American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) versus Kyocera (OTCMKTS:KYOCY)

American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) and Kyocera (OTCMKTS:KYOCY) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.3% of American Superconductor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.4% of Kyocera shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.8% of American Superconductor shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

American Superconductor has a beta of 3.01, meaning that its share price is 201% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kyocera has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares American Superconductor and Kyocera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Superconductor	6.00%	9.35%	6.20%
Kyocera	1.30%	0.79%	0.57%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Superconductor and Kyocera”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Superconductor	$254.89 million	9.97	$6.03 million	$0.39	144.33
Kyocera	$13.23 billion	1.39	$159.04 million	$0.22	59.36

Kyocera has higher revenue and earnings than American Superconductor. Kyocera is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Superconductor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for American Superconductor and Kyocera, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Superconductor	0	1	1	0	2.50
Kyocera	0	1	0	0	2.00

American Superconductor currently has a consensus price target of $39.00, indicating a potential downside of 30.72%. Given American Superconductor’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Superconductor is more favorable than Kyocera.

Summary

American Superconductor beats Kyocera on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Superconductor

American Superconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides megawatt-scale power resiliency solutions worldwide. The company operates through Grid and Wind segments. The Grid segment offers products and services that enable electric utilities, industrial facilities, and renewable energy project developers to connect, transmit, and distribute power under the Gridtec Solutions brand. It provides transmission planning services, which identify power grid congestion, poor power quality, and other risks; grid interconnection solutions for wind farms and solar power plants, power quality systems, and transmission and distribution cable systems; D-VAR systems used for controlling power flow and voltage in the AC transmission system; actiVAR system, a fast-switching medium-voltage reactive compensation solution; armorVAR system installed for reactive compensation, power factor correction, loss reduction, utility bill savings, and mitigation of common power quality concerns related to power converter-based generation and load devices; and D-VAR volt var optimization (VVO) that serves the distribution power grid market. This segment also offers ship protection systems, which reduce a naval ship’s magnetic signature; and ON board power delivery systems, power generation systems, and propulsion systems; and transformers and rectifiers systems. The Wind segment designs wind turbine systems and licenses these designs to third parties under the Windtec Solutions brand. It also supplies power electronics and software-based control systems, engineered designs, and support services; and provides customer support services to wind turbine manufacturers. This segment’s design portfolio comprises a range of drivetrains and power ratings of 2 megawatts and higher. American Superconductor Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Ayer, Massachusetts.

About Kyocera

Kyocera Corporation develops, produces, and distributes products based on fine ceramic technologies in Japan, rest of Asia, Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Core Components Business, Electronic Components Business, and Solutions Business segments. The Core Components Business segment offers components, such as fine ceramic components for semiconductor processing equipment, automotive camera modules, and ceramic packages, as well as organic packages and boards to protect electronic components and ICs to industrial machinery, automotive-related, and the information and communication-related markets; optical components, and jewelry and applied ceramic related products; and medical devices comprising prosthetic joints and dental implants. The Electronic Components Business segment provides various electronic components and devices, including capacitors, crystal devices, connectors, and power semiconductor devices for diverse fields comprising information and communications, industrial equipment, automotive-related, and consumer markets, as well as sensors and control components. The Solutions Business segment offers cutting tools, as well as pneumatic and power tools for automotive-related and general industrial, and construction markets; printers for offices; and communication terminals, such as mobile phones, as well as information systems and telecommunication services. This segment also provides MFPs, commercial inkjet printers, communication modules, displays, and printing devices, as well as information systems and telecommunication, smart energy-related products and services, and solution services, such as document management system. The company was formerly known as Kyoto Ceramic Kabushiki Kaisha and changed its name to Kyocera Corporation in 1982. Kyocera Corporation was incorporated in 1946 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.