Financial Comparison: Babcock (NYSE:BW) & Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE)

Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) and Babcock (NYSE:BW) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Bloom Energy and Babcock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bloom Energy	7.87%	35.45%	8.30%
Babcock	-2.17%	-4.51%	0.70%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bloom Energy and Babcock”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bloom Energy	$2.02 billion	42.73	-$88.43 million	$0.75	391.55
Babcock	$587.70 million	1.47	-$36.16 million	($0.18)	-32.14

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bloom Energy and Babcock, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bloom Energy	1	12	10	3	2.58
Babcock	1	2	4	0	2.43

Bloom Energy presently has a consensus target price of $254.14, indicating a potential downside of 13.46%. Babcock has a consensus target price of $15.40, indicating a potential upside of 166.21%. Given Babcock’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Babcock is more favorable than Bloom Energy.

Risk & Volatility

Bloom Energy has a beta of 3.8, meaning that its stock price is 280% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Babcock has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.0% of Bloom Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.2% of Babcock shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Bloom Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Babcock shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Bloom Energy beats Babcock on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy Corporation designs, manufactures, sells, and installs solid-oxide fuel cell systems for on-site power generation in the United States and internationally. The company offers Bloom Energy Server, a solid oxide technology that converts fuel, such as natural gas, biogas, hydrogen, or a blend of these fuels into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion. It sells its products through direct and indirect sales channels to utilities, data centers, agriculture, retail, hospitals, higher education, biotech, and manufacturing industries. The company was formerly known as Ion America Corp. and changed its name to Bloom Energy Corporation in 2006. Bloom Energy Corporation was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Babcock

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. engages in the provision of fossil and renewable power generation and environmental equipment. It operates through the following segments: B&W Renewable, B&W Environmental, and B&W Thermal. The B&W Renewable segment supports a circular economy, diverting waste from landfills to use for power generation and replacing fossil fuels, while recovering metals and reducing emissions. The B&W Environmental segment focuses on systems for cooling, ash handling, particulate control, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides removal, chemical looping for carbon control, and mercury control. The B&W Thermal segment offers steam generation equipment, aftermarket parts, construction, maintenance, and field services for plants in the power generation, oil and gas, and industrial sectors. The company was founded by George H. Babcock, Stephen Wilcox, Jr., and Joseph P. Manton in 1856 and is headquartered in Akron, OH.