Analyzing AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) & Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT)

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) and Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for AEye and Socket Mobile, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AEye	1	0	2	0	2.33
Socket Mobile	1	0	0	0	1.00

AEye currently has a consensus price target of $4.75, indicating a potential upside of 269.65%. Given AEye’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe AEye is more favorable than Socket Mobile.

Risk and Volatility

AEye has a beta of 2.81, meaning that its share price is 181% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Socket Mobile has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares AEye and Socket Mobile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AEye	-7,786.44%	-41.66%	-37.38%
Socket Mobile	-107.50%	-189.51%	-82.46%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares AEye and Socket Mobile”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AEye	$230,000.00	258.73	-$33.96 million	($0.87)	-1.48
Socket Mobile	$13.80 million	1.29	-$14.38 million	($1.85)	-1.17

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

21.6% of AEye shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of AEye shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 54.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

AEye beats Socket Mobile on 9 of the 14 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 Socket Mobile

Socket Mobile, Inc. provides data capture and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its products and solutions are integrated into mobile applications for applications in the areas of point of sale, commercial services, asset tracking, manufacturing and quality control processes, transportation and logistics, event management, medical, and education. The company also offers cordless data capture devices that connect through Bluetooth and work with applications running on smartphones, mobile computers, and tablets; SocketScan and DuraScan 700 series, companion scanners and 800 series, attachable scanners, and wearables; and DuraSled, a barcode scanning sled that protects phones from impact damage and provides charging solutions. In addition, it offers D600, a handheld model to reads and writes various types of electronic SmartTags and transfers data with near-field communication (NFC); S550, a contactless membership card reader/writer; and S370 product that supports barcode scanning, and NFC reading and writing technologies. Further, the company provides SocketCam C820 and C860, which are camera-based barcode scanners; software developer kits, such as CaptureSDK that enables the App providers to modify captured data, control the placement of the barcoded or RFID data in their applications, and control the feedback to the user. It serves retail, commercial services, industrial and manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare industries through a network of distributors, online resellers, and application providers, as well as online stores. The company was formerly known as Socket Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Socket Mobile, Inc. in April 2008. Socket Mobile, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.