Head-To-Head Review: Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI)

Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) and Ascent Solar Technologies (NASDAQ:ASTI) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Beam Global and Ascent Solar Technologies’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Beam Global	$22.00 million	4.40	-$19.68 million	($1.73)	-3.93
Ascent Solar Technologies	$460,000.00	3.24	-$17.07 million	($134.04)	0.00

Ascent Solar Technologies has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Beam Global. Beam Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ascent Solar Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Beam Global shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.5% of Ascent Solar Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Beam Global and Ascent Solar Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Beam Global	0	1	1	0	2.50
Ascent Solar Technologies	0	0	0	0	N/A

Beam Global presently has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 267.65%. Given Beam Global’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Beam Global is more favorable than Ascent Solar Technologies.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Beam Global	-34.05%	-50.60%	-36.11%
Ascent Solar Technologies	-3,731.58%	-7,017.74%	-156.32%

Volatility and Risk

Beam Global has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ascent Solar Technologies has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Beam Global beats Ascent Solar Technologies on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Beam Global

Beam Global, a cleantech company, designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, and sells renewably energized infrastructure products for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy security, disaster preparedness, and outdoor media advertising. The company's product portfolio includes EV ARC (electric vehicle autonomous renewable charger), an infrastructure product that uses integrated solar power and battery storage to provide a source of power for factory installed electric vehicle charging stations; Solar Tree DCFC, an off-grid, renewably energized, and single-column mounted smart generation and energy storage system to provide a 50kW DC fast charge to one or more electric vehicles or larger vehicles; and EV ARC DCFC, a DC fast charging system for charging EVs. It is also developing EV-Standard, a lamp standard, EV charging, and emergency power product that uses an existing streetlamp's foundation and a combination of solar, wind, grid connection, and onboard energy storage to provide curbside charging; and UAV ARC, an off-grid and renewably energized product and network used to charge aerial drone (UAV) fleets. The company was formerly known as Envision Solar International, Inc. and changed its name to Beam Global in September 2020. Beam Global was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

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.