Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR) & Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) Head-To-Head Review

Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR) and Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Ideal Power has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Power Integrations has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ideal Power and Power Integrations’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ideal Power	-5,123.78%	-49.52%	-44.93%
Power Integrations	17.58%	12.00%	10.75%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

18.4% of Ideal Power shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Ideal Power shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Power Integrations shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Ideal Power and Power Integrations, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ideal Power	0	0	1	0	3.00
Power Integrations	0	4	3	0	2.43

Ideal Power currently has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 76.47%. Power Integrations has a consensus price target of $88.14, suggesting a potential upside of 3.16%. Given Ideal Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ideal Power is more favorable than Power Integrations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ideal Power and Power Integrations’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ideal Power	$200,000.00	302.94	-$7.19 million	($1.37)	-7.45
Power Integrations	$651.14 million	7.53	$170.85 million	$1.58	54.08

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

Summary

Power Integrations beats Ideal Power on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ideal Power

Ideal Power Inc. focuses on the development and commercialization of its bidirectional bipolar junction TRANsistor solid-state switch technology. The company offers SymCool Power Module designed to meet low conduction loss needs of the solid-state circuit breaker market. It serves electric and hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging, renewable energy and energy storage system power converters, uninterruptible power supplies for data centers, industrial motor drives, solid-state circuit breakers, distribution and transmission switches and controls, and other industrial and military markets. The company was formerly known as Ideal Power Converters Inc. and changed its name to Ideal Power Inc. in July 2013. Ideal Power Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion worldwide. The company provides a range of alternating current to direct current power conversion products that address power supply ranging from less than one watt of output to approximately 500 watts of output for mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, LED lighting, and various other consumer and industrial applications, as well as power conversion in high-power applications comprising industrial motors, solar and wind-power systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage DC transmission systems. It also offers high-voltage diodes; high-voltage gate-driver products used to operate high-voltage switches, such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors and silicon-carbide MOSFETs under the SCALE and SCALE-2 product-family names; and SCALE-iDriver for use in powertrain and charging applications for electric vehicles. In addition, the company provides motor-driver ICs for use in refrigerator compressors, ceiling fans, and air purifiers, as well as pumps, fans, and blowers used in consumer appliances, such as dishwashers and laundry machines. It serves communications, computer, consumer, and industrial markets. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and merchant power supply manufacturers through direct sales force, as well as a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Power Integrations, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.