Lumentum (LITE) Competitors

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) and Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, community ranking, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Is IRDM or LITE more profitable?

Iridium Communications has a net margin of 3.20% compared to Iridium Communications' net margin of -18.52%. Lumentum's return on equity of 2.76% beat Iridium Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iridium Communications	3.20%	2.76%	0.93%
Lumentum	-18.52%	1.04%	0.31%

Do analysts recommend IRDM or LITE?

Iridium Communications currently has a consensus price target of $44.75, indicating a potential upside of 42.65%. Lumentum has a consensus price target of $52.69, indicating a potential upside of 21.35%. Given Lumentum's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Iridium Communications is more favorable than Lumentum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iridium Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80
Lumentum	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.42

Which has more volatility & risk, IRDM or LITE?

Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lumentum has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to IRDM or LITE?

In the previous week, Iridium Communications had 16 more articles in the media than Lumentum. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Iridium Communications and 5 mentions for Lumentum. Iridium Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Lumentum's score of 0.37 indicating that Lumentum is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Iridium Communications	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Lumentum	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, IRDM or LITE?

Iridium Communications has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lumentum. Lumentum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Iridium Communications, 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
Iridium Communications	$790.72M	4.82	$15.41M	$0.21	149.38
Lumentum	$1.77B	1.66	-$131.60M	-$3.94	-11.02

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of IRDM or LITE?

84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.1% of Lumentum shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Lumentum shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in IRDM or LITE?

Lumentum received 407 more outperform votes than Iridium Communications when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.06% of users gave Lumentum an outperform vote while only 58.76% of users gave Iridium Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Iridium Communications	Outperform Votes 483 58.76%	Underperform Votes 339 41.24%
Lumentum	Outperform Votes 890 72.06%	Underperform Votes 345 27.94%

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Lumentum on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.