GSE (OTCMKTS:GSEH) and Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) Critical Analysis

Forward Industries (NASDAQ:FWDI) and GSE (OTCMKTS:GSEH) are both manufacturing companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Forward Industries and GSE, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Forward Industries	1	1	1	1	2.50
GSE	0	0	0	0	0.00

Forward Industries presently has a consensus price target of $7.45, suggesting a potential upside of 54.89%. Given Forward Industries’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Forward Industries is more favorable than GSE.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Forward Industries and GSE”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Forward Industries	$44.84 million	8.01	-$166.97 million	($2.05)	-2.35
GSE	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

GSE has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Forward Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Forward Industries and GSE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Forward Industries	-2,305.12%	-21.42%	-20.82%
GSE	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Forward Industries beats GSE on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Forward Industries

Forward Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, markets, and distributes carry and protective solutions primarily for handheld electronic devices. The company operates in three segments: OEM Distribution, Retail Distribution, and Design. The OEM Distribution segment sources and distributes carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits; and various portable electronic and non-electronic products, such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, GPS devices, tablets, and firearms. The Retail Distribution segment sources and sells smart-enabled furniture and a range of other products through agreements with various retailers, including in stores and online retailer websites. The Design segment provides hardware and software product design and engineering services. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Forward Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.

About GSE

GSE Holding, Inc. (GSE) is a provider of engineered geosynthetic containment solutions. GSE’s products are used in a range of infrastructure end markets, such as mining, waste management, liquid containment (including water infrastructure, agriculture and aquaculture), coal ash containment and shale oil and gas. The Company operates in two segments: North America, which represents the United States, Canada and Mexico, and International, which represents the rest of its global operations. The Company is a provider of products required to deliver customized solutions for projects on a global basis, including geomembranes, drainage products, geosynthetic clay liners, or GCLs, nonwoven geotextiles, and specialty products. In March 2012, the Company announced the purchase, by one of its subsidiaries, of certain manufacturing equipment from Poly-America, L.P. and Poly-Flex, Inc. In February 2013, the Company acquired SynTec, LLC.