Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) Critical Contrast

Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) and Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Wolfspeed shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Wolfspeed”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascent Solar Technologies	$266,077.00	10.42	-$17.07 million	N/A	N/A
Wolfspeed	$807.20 million	1.20	-$864.20 million	($5.95)	-1.28

Ascent Solar Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Wolfspeed.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Ascent Solar Technologies and Wolfspeed, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascent Solar Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00
Wolfspeed	2	10	4	0	2.13

Wolfspeed has a consensus target price of $17.36, suggesting a potential upside of 128.53%. Given Wolfspeed’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Wolfspeed is more favorable than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Ascent Solar Technologies and Wolfspeed’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascent Solar Technologies	-4,900.29%	N/A	-144.70%
Wolfspeed	-93.31%	-49.86%	-5.96%

Risk & Volatility

Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 2.54, meaning that its share price is 154% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wolfspeed has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wolfspeed beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascent Solar Technologies

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company markets and sells its products through OEMs, system integrators, distributors, retailers, and value-added resellers. It serves agrivoltaics, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, and fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Thornton, Colorado.

About Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed, Inc. operates as a powerhouse semiconductor company focuses on silicon carbide and gallium nitride (GaN) technologies in Europe, Hong Kong, China, rest of Asia-Pacific, the United States, and internationally. It offers silicon carbide and GaN materials, including silicon carbide bare wafers, epitaxial wafers, and GaN epitaxial layers on silicon carbide wafers to manufacture products for RF, power, and other applications. The company also provides power devices, such as silicon carbide Schottky diodes, metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), and power modules for customers and distributors to use in applications, including electric vehicles comprising charging infrastructure, server power supplies, solar inverters, uninterruptible power supplies, industrial power supplies, and other applications. In addition, it offers RF devices comprising GaN-based die, high-electron mobility transistors, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and laterally diffused MOSFET power transistors for telecommunications infrastructure, military, and other commercial applications. The company was formerly known as Cree, Inc. and changed its name to Wolfspeed, Inc. in October 2021. Wolfspeed, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.