Critical Analysis: Rohm (OTCMKTS:ROHCY) & Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA)

Rohm (OTCMKTS:ROHCY) and Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Rohm has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ceva has a beta of 2, suggesting that its stock price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rohm and Ceva”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rohm	$3.20 billion	4.27	-$1.05 billion	($2.64)	-13.39
Ceva	$109.60 million	12.31	-$10.64 million	($0.45)	-107.58

Ceva has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Rohm. Ceva is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rohm, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.4% of Ceva shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Ceva shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Rohm and Ceva, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rohm	0	1	1	0	2.50
Ceva	1	1	9	0	2.73

Ceva has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential downside of 15.31%. Given Ceva’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ceva is more favorable than Rohm.

Profitability

This table compares Rohm and Ceva’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rohm	-31.42%	3.55%	2.20%
Ceva	-10.47%	-3.42%	-2.98%

Summary

Ceva beats Rohm on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rohm

ROHM Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. The company operates through three segments: LSI, Semiconductor Devices, and Modules. It provides ICs comprising memory, amplifiers and linear, power management, motor/actuator drivers, resistors, clocks and timers, switches and multiplexers, logic, data converters, sensors and MEMS, display drivers, interfaces, wireless LSIs, audio and video products, speech synthesis LSI, and microcontrollers. The company also offers discrete semiconductor products, such as MOSFETs, bipolar transistors, and diodes; power devices, including power transistors and diodes, SiC power devices, IGBT, and IPM; modules, including optical modules, wireless communication modules, wireless charger modules, and print heads; and opto devices comprising LEDs, LED displays, laser diodes, and optical sensors, as well as foundry services, including thin-film piezoelectric MEMS, wafers, and WL-CSP. Its products are used in industry, automotive, consumer electronics, and telecommunications applications. The company was incorporated in 1940 and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.

About Ceva

CEVA, Inc. provides silicon and software IP solutions to semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies worldwide. Its 5G mobile and infrastructure products include Ceva-XC vector digital signal processors (DSPs) for 5G handsets, 5G RAN, and general-purpose baseband processing; PentaG-RAN, an open ran platform for base station and radio; and PentaG2 – 5G NR modem platform for UE, as well as for non-handset 5G vertical markets, such as fixed wireless access, industry 4.0, robotics, and AR/VR devices. The company’s wireless IoT products comprise RivieraWaves’ Bluetooth 5dual mode and low energy platforms, RivieraWaves’ Wi-Fi platforms, ultra-wide band platforms, and Cellular IoT and RedCap platforms, as well as sense and inference processors and platforms consist of NeuPro-M neural processing unit (NPU) family; SensPro2 sensor hub AI platforms addressing imaging, vision, powertrain, and applications, including DSP processors, AI accelerators, and a software portfolio; and Ceva-BX1 and Ceva-BX2 audio AI DSPs. Its sensing and audio software comprise RealSpace spatial audio software package; WhisPro speech recognition; ClearVox, a voice front-end software package for voice-enabled devices; and CDNN, a neural network graph compiler that enables AI developers to automatically compile, optimize, and run pre-trained networks onto embedded devices. The company’s application software IP are licensed primarily to OEMs who embed it in their system on chip designs. It delivers AI DSPs and NPUs in the form of a hardware description language definition; and offers development platforms, software development kits, and software debug tools, which facilitate system design, debug, and software development. The company licenses its technology through a direct sales force. CEVA, Inc. was formerly known as ParthusCeva, Inc. and changed its name to CEVA, Inc. in December 2003. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.