Comparing First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) & Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP)

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and Arteris (NASDAQ:AIP) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Solar and Arteris”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Solar	$3.76 billion	5.73	$830.78 million	$9.54	21.12
Arteris	$53.30 million	5.08	-$36.87 million	($1.03)	-6.83

First Solar has higher revenue and earnings than Arteris. Arteris is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Solar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for First Solar and Arteris, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Solar	0	3	22	1	2.92
Arteris	0	1	3	0	2.75

First Solar presently has a consensus price target of $288.46, suggesting a potential upside of 43.19%. Arteris has a consensus price target of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 84.92%. Given Arteris’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Arteris is more favorable than First Solar.

Profitability

This table compares First Solar and Arteris’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Solar	31.98%	17.73%	11.54%
Arteris	-68.37%	-274.66%	-35.43%

Volatility & Risk

First Solar has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arteris has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.1% of First Solar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Arteris shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of First Solar shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.7% of Arteris shares are held 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.

Summary

First Solar beats Arteris on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Solar

First Solar, Inc., a solar technology company, provides photovoltaic (PV) solar energy solutions in the United States, France, Japan, Chile, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells PV solar modules with a thin film semiconductor technology that provides a lower-carbon alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV solar modules. It designs, manufactures, and sells cadmium telluride solar modules that converts sunlight into electricity. The company's residual business operations include project development activities, operations and maintenance services, and the sale of PV solar power systems to third-party customers. It serves developers and operators of systems, utilities, independent power producers, commercial and industrial companies, and other system owners. The company was formerly known as First Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to First Solar, Inc. in 2006. First Solar, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

About Arteris

Arteris, Inc. provides semiconductor interconnect intellectual property (IP) and System-on-Chip (Soc) Integration Automation software solutions (SIA) in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The company develops, licenses, and supports the on-chip interconnect fabric technology used in Soc designs and Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnect IP. Its products include FlexNoC and FlexWay silicon-proven interconnect IP products; Ncore, a silicon-proven and cache coherent interconnect IP product that provides scalable, configurable, and area efficient characteristics; and CodaCache, a last-level cache semiconductor IP product. The company also offers SIA products comprising Magillem Connectivity that shortens and streamlines the SoC integration process; and Magillem Registers and CSRCompiler that addresses hardware-software integration challenges for SoCs. The company serves semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, hyperscale system houses, semiconductor design houses, and other producers of electronic systems. Arteris, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Campbell, California.