JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) and T1 Energy (NYSE:TE) Critical Analysis

JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) and T1 Energy (NYSE:TE) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for JinkoSolar and T1 Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JinkoSolar	2	3	1	1	2.14
T1 Energy	2	0	4	1	2.57

JinkoSolar currently has a consensus price target of $24.13, suggesting a potential downside of 3.98%. T1 Energy has a consensus price target of $7.83, suggesting a potential upside of 32.43%. Given T1 Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe T1 Energy is more favorable than JinkoSolar.

Profitability

This table compares JinkoSolar and T1 Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JinkoSolar	-5.62%	-9.52%	-2.14%
T1 Energy	-48.11%	-173.39%	-22.64%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.8% of JinkoSolar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.3% of T1 Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of JinkoSolar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.7% of T1 Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares JinkoSolar and T1 Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JinkoSolar	$9.37 billion	0.14	-$635.64 million	($9.74)	-2.58
T1 Energy	$755.30 million	2.19	-$367.83 million	($2.06)	-2.87

T1 Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than JinkoSolar. T1 Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JinkoSolar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

JinkoSolar has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, T1 Energy has a beta of 1.78, suggesting that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

JinkoSolar pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. T1 Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.6%. JinkoSolar pays out -13.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. T1 Energy pays out -44.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. T1 Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

T1 Energy beats JinkoSolar on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JinkoSolar

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; solar power generation and solar system EPC services; and energy storage system, as well as undertakes solar power projects. The company sells its products to distributors, project developers, system integrators, and manufacturers of solar power products under the JinkoSolar brand. As of December 31, 2023, it had an integrated annual capacity of 85 gigawatts (GW) for mono wafers; 90 GW for solar cells; and 110 GW for solar modules. It operates in China, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan, Vietnam, Egypt, Spain, Germany, and internationally. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shangrao, the People's Republic of China.

About T1 Energy

T1 Energy Inc. is an energy solutions provider building an integrated supply chain for solar and batteries. T1 Energy Inc. , formerly known as FREYR Battery, is based in NEW YORK.