Head-To-Head Analysis: Taylor Devices (NASDAQ:TAYD) and Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN)

Taylor Devices (NASDAQ:TAYD) and Palladyne AI (NASDAQ:PDYN) are both small-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Taylor Devices and Palladyne AI, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Taylor Devices	0	0	0	0	N/A
Palladyne AI	0	0	0	0	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

17.6% of Taylor Devices shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Taylor Devices shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Palladyne AI shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Taylor Devices and Palladyne AI’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Taylor Devices	19.87%	16.84%	14.66%
Palladyne AI	-893.88%	-62.26%	-44.82%

Risk and Volatility

Taylor Devices has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Palladyne AI has a beta of 3.37, indicating that its share price is 237% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Taylor Devices and Palladyne AI’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Taylor Devices	$40.20 million	4.52	$6.29 million	$2.49	20.72
Palladyne AI	$6.15 million	6.44	-$115.59 million	($3.94)	-0.38

Taylor Devices has higher revenue and earnings than Palladyne AI. Palladyne AI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Taylor Devices, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Taylor Devices beats Palladyne AI on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Taylor Devices

Taylor Devices, Inc. engages in design, development, manufacture, and marketing of shock absorption, rate control, and energy storage devices for use in machinery, equipment, and structures in the United States, Asia, and internationally. Its products include seismic dampers that are designed to mitigate the effects of earthquakes on structures; Fluidicshoks, which are compact shock absorbers primarily used in defense, aerospace, and commercial industries; and crane and industrial buffers, which are larger versions of the Fluidicshoks for industrial application on cranes and crane trolleys, truck docks, ladle and ingot cars, ore trolleys, and train car stops. The company's products also comprise self-adjusting shock absorbers that include versions of Fluidicshoks, and crane and industrial buffers, which automatically adjust to various impact conditions and are designed for high cycle application primarily in the heavy industry; liquid die springs that are used as component parts of machinery and equipment used in the manufacture of tools and dies; vibration dampers, which are primarily used by aerospace and defense industries to control the response of electronics and optical systems subjected to air, ship, or spacecraft vibration; machined springs used in the aerospace applications; and custom actuators for special aerospace and defense applications. It markets its products through a network of sales representatives and distributors. The company was incorporated in 1955 and is headquartered in North Tonawanda, New York.

About Palladyne AI

Palladyne AI Corp., a software company, focuses on delivering software that enhances the utility and functionality of third-party stationary and mobile robotic systems in the United States. Its Artificial Intelligence (AI)/ Machine Learning (ML) software platform enables robots to observe, learn, reason, and act in structured and unstructured environments. The company's software platform enables robotic systems to perceive their environment and quickly adapt to changing circumstances by generalizing from their experience using dynamic real-time operations without extensive programming and with minimal robot training. It serves customers from various industries, such as industrial manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, defense, infrastructure maintenance and repair, energy, aerospace and aviation, and others. The company was formerly known as Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation and changed its name to Palladyne AI Corp. in March 2024. Palladyne AI Corp. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.