Reviewing Ultra Clean (UCTT) and Its Peers

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) is one of 220 publicly-traded companies in the “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Ultra Clean to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Ultra Clean has a beta of 1.9, indicating that its share price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ultra Clean’s competitors have a beta of 2.81, indicating that their average share price is 181% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ultra Clean and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ultra Clean	1.09%	12.00%	4.76%
Ultra Clean Competitors	-1,255.36%	-126.08%	-3.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Ultra Clean and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ultra Clean	1	2	6	0	2.56
Ultra Clean Competitors	3516	12397	25851	1004	2.57

Ultra Clean presently has a consensus target price of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 122.45%. As a group, “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 37.28%. Given Ultra Clean’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Ultra Clean is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ultra Clean and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ultra Clean	$2.44 billion	-$181.20 million	84.39
Ultra Clean Competitors	$7.39 billion	$2.55 billion	20.03

Ultra Clean’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Ultra Clean. Ultra Clean is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Ultra Clean shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ultra Clean shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.8% of shares of all “Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ultra Clean beats its competitors on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UCTT) provides products and services used in the manufacture of semiconductor and other high-technology equipment. Its offerings include critical subsystems, components and assemblies, along with engineering and manufacturing services that help equipment makers design, build and support their systems. The company’s products include gas and chemical delivery systems, fluid and precision-engineered components, and assemblies made for use in demanding manufacturing environments.