Viaspace (OTCMKTS:VSPC) vs. Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) Head-To-Head Analysis

Digimarc (NASDAQ:DMRC) and Viaspace (OTCMKTS:VSPC) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Digimarc and Viaspace, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Digimarc	1	0	1	0	2.00
Viaspace	0	0	0	0	0.00

Digimarc currently has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 151.89%. Given Digimarc’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Digimarc is more favorable than Viaspace.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Digimarc and Viaspace”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Digimarc	$38.42 million	4.50	-$39.01 million	($1.71)	-4.64
Viaspace	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Viaspace has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Digimarc.

Risk and Volatility

Digimarc has a beta of 1.68, suggesting that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viaspace has a beta of -0.35, suggesting that its share price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Digimarc and Viaspace’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Digimarc	-109.17%	-50.08%	-38.57%
Viaspace	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.9% of Digimarc shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.3% of Digimarc shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 45.8% of Viaspace shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Digimarc beats Viaspace on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides automatic identification solutions to commercial and government customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers Digimarc Validate protects, a cloud-based record of product authentication information; Digimarc Engage, an interactive communications channel connecting brands and consumers; and Digimarc Recycle. Its solutions are used in various application solutions, such as sorting of consumer-packaged goods in recycling streams. The company offers its solutions through its sales personnel and business partners. Digimarc Corporation was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Beaverton, Oregon.

About Viaspace

VIASPACE Inc. engages in the renewable energy business in the United States and internationally. It develops Giant King Grass (GKG), a biomass and energy crop. The company’s GKG could be burned in biomass power plants to generate electricity; made into pellets that could be burned together with coal to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants; generated bio methane through anaerobic digestion; and used as a feedstock for low carbon liquid biofuels for transportation, biochemical, and bio plastics, as well as animal feed. VIASPACE Inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in Santa Cruz, California.