Ribbon Communications (NASDAQ:RBBN) & Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) Head-To-Head Analysis

Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) and Ribbon Communications (NASDAQ:RBBN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Viavi Solutions and Ribbon Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viavi Solutions	1	2	6	0	2.56
Ribbon Communications	1	1	4	0	2.50

Viavi Solutions currently has a consensus price target of $55.43, suggesting a potential upside of 66.05%. Ribbon Communications has a consensus price target of $3.30, suggesting a potential upside of 150.00%. Given Ribbon Communications’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ribbon Communications is more favorable than Viavi Solutions.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Viavi Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.9% of Ribbon Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Viavi Solutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Ribbon Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Viavi Solutions has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ribbon Communications has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Viavi Solutions and Ribbon Communications”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viavi Solutions	$1.52 billion	5.41	-$30.40 million	($0.15)	-222.53
Ribbon Communications	$797.64 million	0.30	$39.64 million	$0.08	16.50

Ribbon Communications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Viavi Solutions. Viavi Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ribbon Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Viavi Solutions and Ribbon Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viavi Solutions	-2.00%	19.60%	7.48%
Ribbon Communications	1.96%	19.91%	6.98%

Summary

Ribbon Communications beats Viavi Solutions on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viavi Solutions

Viavi Solutions, Inc. engages in the provision of network test, monitoring, and assurance solutions for communications service providers, enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, government and avionics. It operates through the following segments: Network Enablement, Service Enablement, and Optical Security and Performance. The Network Enablement segment offers an integrated portfolio of testing solutions that access the network to perform build-out and maintenance tasks. The Service Enablement segment covers solutions and services primarily for communication service providers, and enterprises that deliver and/or operate broadband and IP networks (fixed and mobile) supporting voice, video, and data services as well as a wide range of applications. The Optical Security and Performance segment leverages its core optical coating technologies and volume manufacturing capability to design, manufacture, and sell products targeting anti-counterfeiting, consumer and industrial, government, healthcare, and other markets. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Chandler, AZ.

About Ribbon Communications

Ribbon Communications Inc. provides communications technology in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Cloud and Edge, and IP Optical Networks. The Cloud and Edge segment provides software and hardware products, solutions, and services for voice over internet protocol communications, voice over long-term evolution, and voice over 5G communications, and unified communications and collaboration. It also offers session border controllers; and network transformation products, such as signaling products, call controllers, media gateways, and application servers. This segment serves private, public, or hybrid cloud infrastructures, as well as data centers, enterprise premises, and service provider networks. The IP Optical Networks segment provides hardware and software products and solutions for IP networking, switching, routing, and optical transport for technologies, such as 5G, distributed cloud computing, and corresponding applications. It also offers multiple solutions, including 5G-native solutions for mobile-backhaul, metro and edge aggregation, core networking, data center interconnect, multi-service access, and transport solutions for wholesale carriers. This segment serves utilities, government, defense, finance, transportation, and education and research industries, as well as service providers and enterprises. The company was formerly known as Sonus Networks, Inc. and changed its name to Ribbon Communications Inc. in November 2017. Ribbon Communications Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.