Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) versus Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) Critical Survey

Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) and Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) are both mid-cap technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Silicon Laboratories and Himax Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Silicon Laboratories	$784.76 million	9.31	-$64.91 million	($1.18)	-185.64
Himax Technologies	$828.63 million	2.86	$43.94 million	$0.21	64.62

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

Profitability

This table compares Silicon Laboratories and Himax Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Silicon Laboratories	-4.57%	-0.66%	-0.57%
Himax Technologies	4.26%	3.90%	2.04%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.8% of Himax Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Silicon Laboratories shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 31.5% of Himax Technologies shares are held 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.

Risk & Volatility

Silicon Laboratories has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Himax Technologies has a beta of 2.3, indicating that its share price is 130% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Silicon Laboratories and Himax Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Silicon Laboratories	2	5	0	0	1.71
Himax Technologies	0	3	0	0	2.00

Silicon Laboratories presently has a consensus target price of $218.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.48%. Himax Technologies has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential downside of 41.05%. Given Silicon Laboratories’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Silicon Laboratories is more favorable than Himax Technologies.

Summary

Himax Technologies beats Silicon Laboratories on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Silicon Laboratories

Silicon Laboratories Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, provides various analog-intensive mixed-signal solutions in the United States, China, Taiwan, and internationally. The company's products include wireless microcontrollers and sensor products. Its products are used in various electronic products in a range of applications for the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), including industrial automation and control, smart buildings, access control, HVAC control, and industrial wearables and power tools; smart cities applications, such as smart metering, smart street lighting, renewable energy, electric vehicle supply equipment, and smart agriculture; commercial IoT applications, including smart lighting, asset tracking, electronic shelf labels, theft protection, and enterprise access points; smart home applications, comprising home automation/security systems, smart speakers, smart lighting, HVAC control, smart cameras, smart appliances, smart home sensing, smart locks, and window/blind controls; and connected health applications, including diabetes management, consumer health and fitness, elderly care, patient monitoring, and activity tracking; as well as in commercial building automation, consumer electronics, and medical instrumentation. The company sells its products through its direct sales force, as well as through a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Silicon Laboratories Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Himax Technologies

Himax Technologies, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States. The company operates in two segments, Driver IC and Non-Driver Products. It offers display driver integrated circuits (ICs) and timing controllers that are used in televisions, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, and other products. The company also provides automotive IC solutions, including traditional driver ICs; advanced in-cell touch and display driver integration; large touch and display driver integration; and local dimming timing controllers, as well as active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) solutions, including AMOLED drivers, timing controllers, and touch controller ICs. In addition, it offers application specific IC services; liquid crystal on silicon and micro-electro mechanical system products; Power ICs; complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensor products; wafer level optics products; 3D sensing products; and ultralow power WiseEye smart image sensing products. The company markets its display drivers to panel manufacturers, mobile device module manufacturers, and manufacturers of end-use products. Himax Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan City, Taiwan.