Reviewing Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) and Daikin Industries (OTCMKTS:DKILY)

Daikin Industries (OTCMKTS:DKILY) and Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Daikin Industries and Flex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daikin Industries	5.80%	9.16%	5.12%
Flex	3.33%	20.86%	5.57%

Risk and Volatility

Daikin Industries has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flex has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Daikin Industries and Flex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daikin Industries	$31.21 billion	1.17	$1.75 billion	$0.62	20.05
Flex	$25.81 billion	0.91	$838.00 million	$2.26	28.21

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.3% of Flex shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Flex shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Daikin Industries and Flex, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daikin Industries	0	0	0	0	0.00
Flex	0	3	8	0	2.73

Flex has a consensus target price of $66.11, indicating a potential upside of 3.70%. Given Flex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Flex is more favorable than Daikin Industries.

Summary

Flex beats Daikin Industries on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Daikin Industries

Daikin Industries,Ltd. manufactures, distributes, and sells air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, and chemical products in Japan, the Americas, China, Asia, Europe, Europe, and internationally. The company’s air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment products include room air-conditioning systems; air purifiers; heat-pump hot-water supply and room-heating systems; packaged air-conditioning systems; multiple air-conditioning systems for office buildings; air-conditioning systems for facilities and plants; heat reclaim ventilators; freezers; water chillers; turbo refrigerator equipment; air-handling units; air filters; industrial dust collectors; marine-type container refrigeration; and refrigerating and freezing showcases. The company’s chemical products comprising fluorocarbons, fluoroplastics, fluoroelastomers, fluoropaints, fluoro coating agents, semiconductor-etching products, water and oil repellent agents, pharmaceuticals and intermediates, and dry air suppliers. It also provides oil hydraulics products, including oil hydraulic pumps and valves, cooling equipment and systems, inverter-controlled pump motors, hydrostatic transmissions, and centralized lubrication units and systems; and defense products consisting of warheads, warhead parts for guided missiles, and home-use oxygen therapy equipment. In addition, the company offers after sales services. Daikin Industries,Ltd. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.

About Flex

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices. Its FRS segment provides complex ramps with specialized production models and critical environments, which comprise automotive including next generation mobility, autonomous, connectivity, electrification, and smart technologies; health solutions, such as medical devices, medical equipment, and drug delivery; and industrial solutions including capital equipment, industrial devices, and renewables and grid edge. The Nextracker segment offers solar tracker and software solutions, which are used in utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects. In addition, it provides a broad array of services including design and engineering, component services, rapid prototyping, fulfillment, and circular economy solutions. The company was formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd. and changed its name to Flex Ltd. in September 2016. Flex Ltd. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Singapore.