nLIGHT (LASR) Competitors

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) and Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, LASR or SIMO?

Silicon Motion Technology has higher revenue and earnings than nLIGHT. nLIGHT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Silicon Motion Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
nLIGHT	$205.69M	3.23	-$41.67M	-$1.13	-11.90
Silicon Motion Technology	$780.73M	2.82	$90.72M	$2.79	23.19

Is LASR or SIMO more profitable?

Silicon Motion Technology has a net margin of 11.29% compared to nLIGHT's net margin of -24.16%. Silicon Motion Technology's return on equity of 11.63% beat nLIGHT's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
nLIGHT	-24.16%	-19.53%	-15.91%
Silicon Motion Technology	11.29%	11.63%	8.77%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in LASR or SIMO?

83.9% of nLIGHT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of Silicon Motion Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of nLIGHT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Silicon Motion Technology shares are owned 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.

Do analysts prefer LASR or SIMO?

nLIGHT presently has a consensus price target of $14.90, suggesting a potential upside of 10.78%. Silicon Motion Technology has a consensus price target of $75.88, suggesting a potential upside of 17.25%. Given Silicon Motion Technology's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Silicon Motion Technology is more favorable than nLIGHT.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
nLIGHT	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Silicon Motion Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Which has more volatility and risk, LASR or SIMO?

nLIGHT has a beta of 2.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silicon Motion Technology has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LASR or SIMO?

Silicon Motion Technology received 658 more outperform votes than nLIGHT when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 76.36% of users gave Silicon Motion Technology an outperform vote while only 63.87% of users gave nLIGHT an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
nLIGHT	Outperform Votes 198 63.87%	Underperform Votes 112 36.13%
Silicon Motion Technology	Outperform Votes 856 76.36%	Underperform Votes 265 23.64%

Does the media favor LASR or SIMO?

In the previous week, Silicon Motion Technology had 3 more articles in the media than nLIGHT. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Silicon Motion Technology and 9 mentions for nLIGHT. Silicon Motion Technology's average media sentiment score of 1.33 beat nLIGHT's score of 1.26 indicating that Silicon Motion Technology is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
nLIGHT	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Silicon Motion Technology	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Silicon Motion Technology beats nLIGHT on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.