Mesa Laboratories (MLAB) Competitors

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) and Mesa Laboratories (NASDAQ:MLAB) are both small-cap electronic equipment & instruments companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Is FARO or MLAB more profitable?

FARO Technologies has a net margin of -0.26% compared to Mesa Laboratories' net margin of -0.82%. Mesa Laboratories' return on equity of 27.51% beat FARO Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FARO Technologies	-0.26%	-0.35%	-0.18%
Mesa Laboratories	-0.82%	27.51%	9.78%

Do analysts prefer FARO or MLAB?

FARO Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $35.50, suggesting a potential downside of 19.30%. Mesa Laboratories has a consensus target price of $130.00, suggesting a potential upside of 74.90%. Given Mesa Laboratories' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mesa Laboratories is more favorable than FARO Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FARO Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Mesa Laboratories	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of FARO or MLAB?

97.2% of FARO Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.6% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of FARO Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.4% of Mesa Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, FARO or MLAB?

FARO Technologies has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Laboratories has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings & valuation, FARO or MLAB?

Mesa Laboratories has lower revenue, but higher earnings than FARO Technologies. FARO Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mesa Laboratories, 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
FARO Technologies	$342.43M	2.48	-$9.07M	-$0.05	-879.80
Mesa Laboratories	$240.98M	1.70	-$1.97M	-$0.37	-200.89

Does the media refer more to FARO or MLAB?

In the previous week, FARO Technologies had 4 more articles in the media than Mesa Laboratories. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for FARO Technologies and 1 mentions for Mesa Laboratories. Mesa Laboratories' average media sentiment score of 0.88 beat FARO Technologies' score of 0.26 indicating that Mesa Laboratories is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
FARO Technologies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Mesa Laboratories	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Mesa Laboratories beats FARO Technologies on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.