Analyzing ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) & Wallbox (NYSE:WBX)

ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) and Wallbox (NYSE:WBX) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

46.8% of ESS Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.9% of Wallbox shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of ESS Tech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.3% of Wallbox shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for ESS Tech and Wallbox, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ESS Tech	1	3	1	0	2.00
Wallbox	1	3	2	0	2.17

ESS Tech currently has a consensus price target of $2.83, indicating a potential upside of 48.34%. Wallbox has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 195.57%. Given Wallbox’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Wallbox is more favorable than ESS Tech.

Profitability

This table compares ESS Tech and Wallbox’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ESS Tech	-1,045.28%	-592.34%	-125.15%
Wallbox	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ESS Tech and Wallbox”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ESS Tech	$6.30 million	5.95	-$86.22 million	($5.10)	-0.37
Wallbox	$177.42 million	0.22	-$161.21 million	N/A	N/A

ESS Tech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Wallbox.

Risk and Volatility

ESS Tech has a beta of 1.46, suggesting that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wallbox has a beta of 2.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wallbox beats ESS Tech on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ESS Tech

ESS Tech, Inc., an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.

About Wallbox

Wallbox N.V., a technology company, designs, manufactures, and distributes charging solutions for residential, business, and public use worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Europe-Middle East and Asia, North America, and Asia-Pacific. It offers EV charging hardware products, such as Pulsar Plus, Pulsar Plus Socket, Pulsar Max, and Pulsar Pro, an AC smart chargers for home and shared spaces; Commander 2, an AC smart charger for fleets and businesses with a 7-inch touchscreen display that provides a personalized and secure user interface for multiple users; Copper SB, an AC smart charger for fleets and businesses with an integrated socket that makes it compatible with both type 1 and type 2 charging cables; Quasar 2, a DC bi-directional charger for home-use that allows to charge and discharge electric vehicle; Supernova, a DC fast charger equipment designed for public use; and Hypernova that allows to optimize available power and adapt to the number of EVs connected for public charging along highways and transcontinental road networks; as well as Wallbox ABL eM4 Single and Twin chargers and eMC3 charging pole. The company also provides EV charging software solutions, including the myWallbox platform, a cloud based software designed to provide smart management of its chargers in residential and business parking settings; Electromaps, a hardware-agnostic e-mobility service provider and charger management software that enables users to find publicly available charging ports; EVectrum, a hardware-agnostic platform for managing chargers; and Sirius, an energy management solution that is designed to seamlessly integrates the electric grid with solar, on-site batteries, and other renewable energy sources. It also offers upgrades and accessories, which includes energy meters, EV charging cables, pedestals, and RFID cards; and installation, and charging network management services. Wallbox N.V. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.