Head to Head Analysis: Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) and Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS)

Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) and Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Amtech Systems and Kulicke and Soffa Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amtech Systems	0	3	1	0	2.25
Kulicke and Soffa Industries	0	2	2	1	2.80

Amtech Systems presently has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 61.65%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a consensus price target of $69.67, indicating a potential downside of 12.31%. Given Amtech Systems’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Amtech Systems is more favorable than Kulicke and Soffa Industries.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

50.2% of Amtech Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 26.9% of Amtech Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries shares are held by company 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.

Profitability

This table compares Amtech Systems and Kulicke and Soffa Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amtech Systems	4.90%	6.33%	4.00%
Kulicke and Soffa Industries	12.18%	14.39%	10.41%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Amtech Systems and Kulicke and Soffa Industries”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amtech Systems	$79.36 million	3.00	-$30.33 million	$0.26	52.35
Kulicke and Soffa Industries	$654.08 million	6.36	$210,000.00	$2.17	36.61

Kulicke and Soffa Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Amtech Systems. Kulicke and Soffa Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amtech Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Amtech Systems has a beta of 2.01, indicating that its stock price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a beta of 1.62, indicating that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kulicke and Soffa Industries beats Amtech Systems on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amtech Systems

Amtech Systems, Inc. manufactures and sells capital equipment and related consumables for use in fabricating silicon carbide (SiC), silicon power devices, analog and discrete devices, electronic assemblies, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) worldwide. The company operates through Semiconductor and Material and Substrate segments. The Semiconductor segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal processing equipment, including solder reflow ovens, horizontal diffusion furnaces, and custom high-temp belt furnaces for use by semiconductor, electronics, and electro/mechanical assembly manufacturers; and diffusion and reflow thermal systems, as well as wafer cleaning equipment and related services. The Material and Substrate segment manufactures and sells consumables and machinery for lapping and polishing of materials, such as silicon wafers for semiconductor products; sapphire substrates for LED lighting and mobile devices; silicon carbide wafers for LED and power device applications; various glass and silica components for 3D image transmission; quartz and ceramic components for telecommunications devices; and medical device components, and optical and photonics applications. It also offers substrate products comprising of double-sided wafer cleaning system, entegrity head tester, substrate carrier, substrate polishing templates, double-sided lapping and polishing machines, single-sided polisher, and substrate process chemicals. The company sells its products through sales personnel, as well as a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Amtech Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment. It also services, maintains, repairs, and upgrades equipment. The company serves semiconductor device manufacturers, integrated device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, other electronics manufacturers, industrial manufacturers, foundry service providers, and automotive electronics suppliers primarily in the United States and the Asia/Pacific region. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.