Comparing KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI)

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

KLA has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares KLA and Ascent Solar Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KLA	35.57%	87.66%	29.23%
Ascent Solar Technologies	-4,217.19%	-85.21%	-64.83%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for KLA and Ascent Solar Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KLA	0	9	19	1	2.72
Ascent Solar Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00

KLA currently has a consensus target price of $222.22, suggesting a potential upside of 19.20%. Ascent Solar Technologies has a consensus target price of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 529.92%. Given Ascent Solar Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ascent Solar Technologies is more favorable than KLA.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares KLA and Ascent Solar Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KLA	$13.58 billion	17.94	$4.83 billion	$3.67	50.80
Ascent Solar Technologies	$80,000.00	389.73	-$7.83 million	($1.48)	-2.15

KLA has higher revenue and earnings than Ascent Solar Technologies. Ascent Solar Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KLA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.7% of KLA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 91.5% of KLA shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Ascent Solar Technologies 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.

Summary

KLA beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection. The company offers inspection and review tools to identify, locate, characterize, review, and analyze defects on various surfaces of patterned and unpatterned wafers; metrology systems that are used to measure pattern dimensions, film thickness, film stress, layer-to-layer alignment, pattern placement, surface topography, and electro-optical properties for wafers; chemical process control equipment; wired and wireless sensor wafers and reticles; wafer defect inspection, review, and metrology systems; reticle inspection and metrology systems; and semiconductor software solutions that provide run-time process control, defect excursion identification, process corrections, and defect classification to accelerate yield learning rates and reduce production risk. It also provides etch, plasma dicing, deposition, and other wafer processing technologies and solutions for the semiconductor and microelectronics industry. In addition, the company offers direct imaging, inspection, optical shaping, inkjet and additive printing, UV laser drilling, and computer-aided manufacturing and engineering solutions for the PCB market; inspection and electrical testing systems to identify and classify defects, as well as systems to repair defects for the display market; and inspection and metrology systems for quality control and yield improvement in advanced and traditional semiconductor packaging markets. The company was formerly known as KLA-Tencor Corporation and changed its name to KLA Corporation in July 2019. KLA Corporation was incorporated in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

About Ascent Solar Technologies

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.