Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP – Get Free Report) and Vicor (NASDAQ:VICR – Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ballard Power Systems and Vicor, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ballard Power Systems | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1.93 |
| Vicor | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3.00 |
Ballard Power Systems currently has a consensus target price of $3.25, indicating a potential upside of 127.56%. Vicor has a consensus target price of $386.67, indicating a potential upside of 98.52%. Given Ballard Power Systems’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ballard Power Systems is more favorable than Vicor.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Ballard Power Systems and Vicor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ballard Power Systems | $99.40 million | 5.05 | -$90.91 million | ($0.26) | -5.50 |
| Vicor | $452.70 million | 19.84 | $118.56 million | $3.82 | 50.99 |
Vicor has higher revenue and earnings than Ballard Power Systems. Ballard Power Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vicor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ballard Power Systems and Vicor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ballard Power Systems | -72.78% | -13.23% | -11.44% |
| Vicor | 32.15% | 22.49% | 20.80% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
28.0% of Ballard Power Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.5% of Vicor shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Ballard Power Systems shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.3% of Vicor shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Ballard Power Systems has a beta of 2.26, indicating that its share price is 126% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vicor has a beta of 2.37, indicating that its share price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Vicor beats Ballard Power Systems on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and service of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. The company offers its products for power product comprising for bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary, and emerging market, such as material handling, off-road, and other applications. It also engages in the delivery of services, including technology solutions, after sales services, and training; and provision of engineering services, product and systems integration services, and related technology transfer for a variety of PEM fuel cell applications. It operates in the United States, Germany, Canada, China, Poland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Belgium, India, Taiwan, Spain, Norway, Australia, Japan, and internationally. The company has a strategic alliance with Linamar Corporation for the co-development and sale of fuel cell powertrains and components for class 1 and 2 vehicles in North America and Europe. Ballard Power Systems Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.
About Vicor
Vicor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets modular power components and power systems for converting electrical power in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company offers a range of brick-format DC-DC converters; complementary components provide AC line rectification, input filtering, power factor correction, and transient protection; and input and output voltage, and output power products, as well as electrical and mechanical accessories. It also design, sells, and service custom power systems solutions. The company serves independent manufacturers of electronic devices, original equipment manufacturers, and their contract manufacturers in the aerospace and aviation, defense electronics, satellites, factory automation, instrumentation, test equipment, transportation, telecommunications and networking infrastructure and vehicles, and transportation markets. Vicor Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.
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