Contrasting STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) and Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB)

STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) and Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for STMicroelectronics and Astera Labs, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STMicroelectronics	1	9	4	1	2.33
Astera Labs	0	1	14	1	3.00

STMicroelectronics currently has a consensus price target of $30.97, indicating a potential upside of 20.71%. Astera Labs has a consensus price target of $100.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.16%. Given STMicroelectronics’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe STMicroelectronics is more favorable than Astera Labs.

Profitability

This table compares STMicroelectronics and Astera Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STMicroelectronics	11.74%	8.92%	6.22%
Astera Labs	-21.05%	-10.40%	-9.56%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

5.1% of STMicroelectronics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.5% of Astera Labs shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares STMicroelectronics and Astera Labs”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
STMicroelectronics	$12.32 billion	1.87	$1.56 billion	$1.18	21.74
Astera Labs	$490.47 million	31.97	-$83.42 million	$0.22	432.23

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

Volatility and Risk

STMicroelectronics has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astera Labs has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

STMicroelectronics beats Astera Labs on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments. The Automotive and Discrete Group segment offers automotive integrated circuits (ICs), and discrete and power transistor products. The Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group segment provides industrial application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs); general purpose analog products; custom analog ICs; wireless charging solutions; galvanic isolated gate drivers; low and high voltage amplifiers, comparators, and current-sense amplifiers; MasterGaN, a solution that integrates a silicon driver and GaN power transistors in a single package; wireline and wireless connectivity ICs; touch screen controllers; micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) products, including sensors or actuators; and optical sensing solutions. The Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segment offers general purpose and secure microcontrollers; and radio frequency (RF) products. It also offers application-specific standard products for analog, digital and mixed-signal applications. In addition, the company provides assembly and other services. It sells its products through distributors and retailers, as well as through sales representatives. The company serves automotive, industrial, personal electronics and communications equipment, and computers and peripherals markets. STMicroelectronics N.V. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

About Astera Labs

Astera Labs, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure. Its Intelligent Connectivity Platform is comprised of a portfolio of data, network, and memory connectivity products, which are built on a unifying software-defined architecture that enables customers to deploy and operate high performance cloud and AI infrastructure at scale. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Santa Clara, California.