Financial Comparison: Spectra7 Microsystems (OTCMKTS:SPVNF) & Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Spectra7 Microsystems (OTCMKTS:SPVNF) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Spectra7 Microsystems and Applied Materials’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spectra7 Microsystems	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.46)	-1.01
Applied Materials	$26.49 billion	6.56	$6.86 billion	$8.50	24.62

Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than Spectra7 Microsystems. Spectra7 Microsystems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Applied Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Spectra7 Microsystems and Applied Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spectra7 Microsystems	N/A	N/A	N/A
Applied Materials	27.03%	43.56%	22.53%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.2% of Spectra7 Microsystems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Applied Materials shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Spectra7 Microsystems and Applied Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spectra7 Microsystems	0	0	0	0	N/A
Applied Materials	1	5	19	0	2.72

Applied Materials has a consensus target price of $196.13, suggesting a potential downside of 6.27%. Given Applied Materials’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Materials is more favorable than Spectra7 Microsystems.

Summary

Applied Materials beats Spectra7 Microsystems on 10 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spectra7 Microsystems

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. operates as an analog semiconductor company in Canada and China. The company offers virtual reality (VR) products, including VR7050 to enable lightweight and ultra-thin active interconnects for gesture recognition and motion control backhaul; augmented reality (AR) -Connect, an integrated cable, connector, and embedded chipset product line for AR vision systems and wearable computing devices; and DreamWeVR, includes VR8181, VR8050, VR8200 and VR8300 chips to support high-bandwidth, near-zero latency VR head-mounted displays, and AR glasses. It also provides GaugeChanger that allows copper to extend much longer lengths without the cost and power penalty of optics that are used in data centers; and USB 3.2 consumer interconnects for use in ultra-thin laptops, tablets, mobile devices, solid-state disks, and wearable computing devices. Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc. engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits. This segment also offers various technologies, including epitaxy, ion implantation, oxidation/nitridation, rapid thermal processing, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, electrochemical deposition, atomic layer deposition, etching, and selective deposition and removal, as well as metrology and inspection tools. The Applied Global Services segment provides integrated solutions to optimize equipment and fab performance and productivity comprising spares, upgrades, services, remanufactured earlier generation equipment, and factory automation software for semiconductor, display, and other products. The Display and Adjacent Markets segment offers products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays; organic light-emitting diodes; and other display technologies for TVs, monitors, laptops, personal computers, electronic tablets, smart phones, and other consumer-oriented devices. It operates in the United States, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1967 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.