Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN) & Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) Critical Review

Ricoh (OTCMKTS:RICOY) and Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Ricoh and Canaan, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ricoh	0	0	0	0	0.00
Canaan	1	0	6	0	2.71

Canaan has a consensus target price of $2.01, indicating a potential upside of 465.73%. Given Canaan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Canaan is more favorable than Ricoh.

Profitability

This table compares Ricoh and Canaan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ricoh	3.10%	6.98%	3.24%
Canaan	-41.71%	-55.84%	-35.47%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ricoh and Canaan”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ricoh	$17.33 billion	0.31	$367.42 million	$0.94	10.16
Canaan	$529.73 million	0.48	-$210.27 million	($0.34)	-1.04

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

Volatility and Risk

Ricoh has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canaan has a beta of 2.62, suggesting that its share price is 162% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.1% of Canaan shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Canaan shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

About Ricoh

Ricoh Company, Ltd. provides office, commercial printing, and related solutions worldwide. It operates through Digital services, Digital Products, Graphic Communications, Industrial Solutions, and Other segments. The company sells multifunctional printers (MFPs), laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machines, scanners, personal computers, servers, network equipment, related parts and supplies, services, and support and service and solutions related to documents. It also offers production and OEM services for MFPs, laser printers, digital duplicators, wide format printers, facsimile machine, scanners, network equipment, and related parts and supplies. In addition, the company produces and sells cut sheet printers, continuous feed printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, related parts and supplies, services, and support and software. Further, it produces and sells thermal paper and media products, industrial optical components/modules, and electronic components and precision mechanical components, as well as offers digital cameras, 360°cameras, and environment and healthcare products. The company was formerly known as Riken Optical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963. Ricoh Company, Ltd. was incorporated in 1936 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Canaan

Canaan Inc. engages in the research, design, and sale of integrated circuit (IC) final mining equipment products by integrating IC products for bitcoin mining and related components in the People's Republic of China. It is also involved in the assembly and distribution of mining equipment and spare parts. The company has operations in the United States, Australia, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Canada, Mainland China, Thailand, Sweden, and internationally. Canaan Inc. was founded in 2013 and is based in Singapore.