Head to Head Contrast: Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) and Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX)

Gentex (NASDAQ:GNTX) and Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Gentex and Beam Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gentex	$2.53 billion	1.76	$384.84 million	$1.74	11.90
Beam Global	$49.34 million	0.54	-$11.28 million	($1.91)	-0.74

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

Profitability

This table compares Gentex and Beam Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gentex	15.19%	16.05%	13.85%
Beam Global	-105.89%	-61.03%	-37.12%

Risk and Volatility

Gentex has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beam Global has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Gentex and Beam Global, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gentex	0	6	2	0	2.25
Beam Global	1	1	3	0	2.40

Gentex presently has a consensus price target of $26.71, indicating a potential upside of 29.05%. Beam Global has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 183.69%. Given Beam Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Beam Global is more favorable than Gentex.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.8% of Gentex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Gentex shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Gentex beats Beam Global on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gentex

Gentex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection products in the United States, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and internationally. It operates through Automotive Products and Other segments. The company offers automotive products, including interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, automotive electronics, and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers, automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers. It also provides variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators. In addition, the company offers photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling alarms, and bells and speakers used in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential buildings, as well as researches and develops nanofiber chemical sensing products. It sells its fire protection products directly, as well as through sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations to fire protection and security product distributors, electrical wholesale houses, and original equipment manufacturers of fire protection systems. Gentex Corporation was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan.

About Beam Global

Beam Global, a clean-technology innovation company, engages in the design, development, engineering, manufacture, and sale of renewably energized infrastructure products and battery solutions. Its product portfolio includes EV ARC (electric vehicle autonomous renewable charger), an infrastructure product that uses integrated solar power and battery storage to provide a mounting asset and a source of power for factory installed electric vehicle charging stations; Solar Tree DCFC, an off-grid, renewably energized, and single-column mounted smart generation and energy storage system to provide a 150kW DC fast charge to one or more electric vehicles, such as electric buses, heavy-duty vehicles, agricultural equipment, public transportation, and electric vehicles used in the construction industry; and EV ARC DCFC, a DC fast charging system for charging EVs. The company is also involved in the development of EV-Standard, a lamp standard, EV charging, and emergency power product that uses an existing streetlamp's foundation and a combination of solar, wind, grid connection, and onboard energy storage to provide curbside charging; and UAV ARC, an off-grid and renewably energized product and network used to charge aerial drone (UAV) fleets. It offers its solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy security, disaster preparedness, street lighting, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, and outdoor media and branding industries. The company was formerly known as Envision Solar International, Inc. and changed its name to Beam Global in September 2020. Beam Global was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.