Reviewing AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) & CPS Technologies (NASDAQ:CPSH)

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) and CPS Technologies (NASDAQ:CPSH) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for AEye and CPS Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AEye	1	0	1	0	2.00
CPS Technologies	1	1	1	0	2.00

AEye currently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 194.12%. CPS Technologies has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.70%. Given AEye’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AEye is more favorable than CPS Technologies.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.6% of AEye shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.2% of CPS Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of AEye shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.2% of CPS Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares AEye and CPS Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AEye	-7,786.44%	-42.98%	-38.52%
CPS Technologies	-0.11%	-0.14%	-0.12%

Volatility & Risk

AEye has a beta of 2.83, suggesting that its share price is 183% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CPS Technologies has a beta of 2.11, suggesting that its share price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AEye and CPS Technologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AEye	$230,000.00	240.54	-$33.96 million	($0.87)	-1.37
CPS Technologies	$32.60 million	2.43	$420,000.00	($0.01)	-409.00

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

Summary

CPS Technologies beats AEye on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AEye

AEye, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides lidar systems for vehicle autonomy, advanced driver-assistance systems, and robotic vision applications in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It offers 4Sight intelligent sensing lidar platform, including 4Sight at Design, Triggered 4Sight, Responsive 4Sight, and Predictive 4Sight; and 4Sight for automotive and industrial market. The company was formerly known as CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III and changed its name to AEye, Inc. in August 2021. AEye, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.

About CPS Technologies

CPS Technologies Corporation provides advanced material solutions to the transportation, automotive, energy, computing/internet, telecommunication, aerospace, defense, and oil and gas markets in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company offers metal matrix composites such as baseplates for various applications, including motor controllers used in electric trains, subway cars, wind turbines, and hybrid and electric vehicles; hermetic packages for use in radar, satellite, and avionics applications; baseplates and housings used in modules built with wide band gap semiconductors; and lids and heat spreaders for use in internet switches and routers. It also assembles housings and packages that includes metal matrix composite components for hybrid circuits; and produces armor for naval and military applications. The company sells its products to microelectronics systems companies. The company was formerly known as Ceramics Process Systems Corporation and changed its name to CPS Technologies Corporation in March 2007. CPS Technologies Corporation was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Norton, Massachusetts.