SMA Solar Technology (OTCMKTS:SMTGF) & FTC Solar (NASDAQ:FTCI) Critical Comparison

FTC Solar (NASDAQ:FTCI) and SMA Solar Technology (OTCMKTS:SMTGF) are both energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for FTC Solar and SMA Solar Technology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FTC Solar	1	2	3	0	2.33
SMA Solar Technology	0	0	1	0	3.00

FTC Solar presently has a consensus target price of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 127.27%. Given FTC Solar’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe FTC Solar is more favorable than SMA Solar Technology.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.4% of FTC Solar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.9% of SMA Solar Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 21.0% of FTC Solar shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares FTC Solar and SMA Solar Technology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FTC Solar	-42.12%	-549.96%	-37.17%
SMA Solar Technology	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares FTC Solar and SMA Solar Technology”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FTC Solar	$99.69 million	0.88	-$79.58 million	($5.74)	-0.96
SMA Solar Technology	N/A	N/A	N/A	($2.91)	-26.50

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

Summary

FTC Solar beats SMA Solar Technology on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FTC Solar

FTC Solar, Inc. engages in the provision of solar tracker systems, software, and engineering services in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and Australia. The company offers a self-powered, two-panel in-portrait, and single-axis tracker solution under the Voyager brand name; and a one module-in-portrait solar tracker solution under the Pioneer brand name. Its customers include project developers and solar asset owners, as well as engineering, procurement, and construction contractors that design and build solar energy projects. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About SMA Solar Technology

SMA Solar Technology AG, together with its subsidiaries, engages in development, production, and sale of PV and battery inverters, transformers, chokes, monitoring systems for PV systems, and charging solutions for electric vehicles in Germany and internationally. It operates through Home Solutions, Commercial and Industrial Solutions, and Large Scale and Project Solutions segments. The company offers string and central solar inverters for various module types; battery inverters for high voltage batteries, on- and off- grid applications, commercial and industrial storage solutions, large scale storage solutions, and accessories; medium-voltage technology products; and DC-DC converters. It also provides E-mobility charging solutions; monitoring and control solutions for PV systems; and energy data services, as well as digital solutions to design, operate, and service PV systems and energy systems. The company was formerly known as SMA Technologie AG and changed its name to SMA Solar Technology AG in June 2008. SMA Solar Technology AG was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Niestetal, Germany.