Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) versus NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) Head to Head Comparison

NETGEAR (NASDAQ:NTGR) and Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.0% of NETGEAR shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.0% of Viasat shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of NETGEAR shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Viasat shares are owned 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for NETGEAR and Viasat, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NETGEAR	1	1	2	0	2.25
Viasat	1	2	7	1	2.73

NETGEAR presently has a consensus price target of $33.50, suggesting a potential upside of 44.40%. Viasat has a consensus price target of $90.67, suggesting a potential upside of 34.50%. Given NETGEAR’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe NETGEAR is more favorable than Viasat.

Profitability

This table compares NETGEAR and Viasat’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NETGEAR	-3.71%	-2.79%	-1.67%
Viasat	-0.64%	1.44%	0.45%

Volatility & Risk

NETGEAR has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viasat has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NETGEAR and Viasat”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NETGEAR	$699.62 million	0.90	-$17.92 million	($0.93)	-24.95
Viasat	$4.64 billion	2.00	-$34.09 million	($0.24)	-280.88

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

Summary

Viasat beats NETGEAR on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NETGEAR

NETGEAR, Inc. provides connectivity solutions the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, Africa; and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Connected Home, and NETGEAR for Business. The Connected Home segment offers Wi-Fi routers and home Wi-Fi mesh systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, digital displays, broadband modems, Wi-Fi gateways, Wi-Fi range extenders, powerline adapters, and Wi-Fi network adapters; and provides value-added service offerings, including security and privacy, technical support, and parental controls. The NETGEAR for Business segment provides pro AV Solutions; pro routers; enterprise grade cloud managed or standalone access points; general purpose ethernet switches; NETGEAR Insight remote management software; and NETGEAR engage controller. It markets and sells its products through wholesale distributors, traditional and online retailers, direct market resellers, value-added resellers, and broadband service providers, as well as through its direct online store. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc. provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics. Its Commercial Networks segment offers fixed broadband satellite communication systems comprising satellite network infrastructure and ground terminals; mobile broadband satellite communication systems; antenna systems for terrestrial and satellite applications, such as earth imaging, remote sensing, mobile satellite communication, Ka-band earth stations, and other multi-band antennas; and space systems design and satellite networking development systems. The company's Government Systems segment offers government mobile broadband products and services include mobile broadband modems, and terminals and network access control systems; mesh and hub-and-spoke satellite networking systems; secure networking, cybersecurity, and information assurance products; and tactical data link solutions. It designs and development of satellite and ground communications systems and network function virtualization, as well as ground-based network subsystems, as well as space system design and development products and services include architectures for GEO, MEO, LEO satellites, and other satellite platforms. The company was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.