Head to Head Analysis: 5N Plus (OTCMKTS:FPLSF) vs. Tokai Carbon (OTCMKTS:TKCBY)

5N Plus (OTCMKTS:FPLSF) and Tokai Carbon (OTCMKTS:TKCBY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.1% of 5N Plus shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of 5N Plus shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares 5N Plus and Tokai Carbon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
5N Plus	-1.45%	6.20%	2.11%
Tokai Carbon	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares 5N Plus and Tokai Carbon’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
5N Plus	$264.22 million	0.88	-$23.00 million	($0.04)	-65.50
Tokai Carbon	N/A	N/A	N/A	$28.63	1.24

Tokai Carbon has lower revenue, but higher earnings than 5N Plus. 5N Plus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tokai Carbon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for 5N Plus and Tokai Carbon, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
5N Plus	0	0	1	0	3.00
Tokai Carbon	0	0	0	0	N/A

5N Plus presently has a consensus target price of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 109.92%. Given 5N Plus’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe 5N Plus is more favorable than Tokai Carbon.

Summary

5N Plus beats Tokai Carbon on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 5N Plus

5N Plus Inc. produces and sells specialty metals and chemicals in North America, Europe, and Asia. It operates through Specialty Semiconductors and Performance Material segments. The company offers semiconductor compounds, semiconductor wafers, metals, epitaxial semiconductor substrates, and solar cells. It also provides active pharmaceutical ingredients, animal feed additives, specialized chemicals, commercial grade metals, alloys, engineered powders, and recycling services. The company serves renewable energy, security, space, pharmaceutical, medical imaging, manufacturing, electronic, consumer, and industrial application markets. 5N Plus Inc. is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

About Tokai Carbon

Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells carbon-related products and services in Japan. The company offers graphite electrodes for use in electric furnaces, such as direct current, alternating current, and refining furnaces; and carbon black, including SEAST, TOKABLACK, Aqua Black, and Thermal black varieties, which are used to reinforce the rubber in tires, as well as used as a black pigment in various black-colored products. It provides fine carbon products comprising special graphite products that include isotropic graphite G/HK series, extruded graphite, SiC coated carbon, C/C composite, glassy carbon, solid SiC, carbon brush, and resin-impregnated graphite products, as well as furnace materials for silicon semiconductor, solar cell manufacturing, and other applications; and industrial furnaces and related products, which comprise silicon carbide heating elements, resistors, recryte SiC structural materials, and industrial furnaces for heat treatment of ceramics, electronic components, metals, glass, and others. In addition, it provides carbon and graphite products and solutions for various smelting applications; and friction materials, including sintered metal friction, paper friction, carbonaceous friction, sliding, resin, woven, and soft mold materials to regulate power transmission in industrial and construction machinery, as well as for use in brake and clutch parts of vehicles, such as motorbikes, trucks, buses, and trains. Further, the company offers anode materials for secondary lithium-ion batteries that are used in smartphones and electric cars. The company was formerly known as Tokai Electrode Mfg. Co. Ltd. and changed its name to Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. in 1975. Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1918 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.