Xunlei (NASDAQ:XNET) and Materialise (NASDAQ:MTLS) Critical Comparison

Materialise (NASDAQ:MTLS) and Xunlei (NASDAQ:XNET) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Materialise and Xunlei’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Materialise	4.85%	5.20%	3.17%
Xunlei	-15.25%	0.62%	0.52%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.3% of Materialise shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.1% of Xunlei shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Materialise shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of Xunlei shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Materialise and Xunlei”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Materialise	$272.77 million	1.73	$8.73 million	$0.27	29.63
Xunlei	$494.81 million	0.54	$1.05 billion	($1.24)	-3.40

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Materialise and Xunlei, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Materialise	0	2	2	0	2.50
Xunlei	0	1	0	0	2.00

Materialise presently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.00%. Given Materialise’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Materialise is more favorable than Xunlei.

Volatility and Risk

Materialise has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xunlei has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Materialise beats Xunlei on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Materialise

Materialise NV provides additive manufacturing and medical software, and 3D printing services in the Americas, Europe and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Materialise Software, Materialise Medical, and Materialise Manufacturing. The Materialise Software segment offers software through programs and platforms that enable and enhance the functionality of 3D printers and of 3D printing operations. Its software interfaces between various types of 3D printers; and various software applications and capturing technologies, including computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing packages and 3D scanners. This segment serves 3D printing machine manufacturers; production companies and contract manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, and hearing aid industries; and 3D printing service bureaus through its sales force, Website, and third party distributors. The Materialise Medical segment provides medical software that allows medical-image based analysis, planning, and engineering, as well as patient-specific design and printing of surgical devices and implants. It serves medical device companies, hospitals, universities, research institutes, and industrial companies through its direct sales force, Website, and picture archiving and communication system. The Materialise Manufacturing segment provides 3D printing services, design and engineering services, and rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing of production parts to industrial and commercial customers. The company has collaboration agreements with Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.; Encore Medical, L.P.; DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson; Limacorporate Spa; Mathys AG; Corin Ltd; Smith & Nephew Inc.; Corin Ltd; Medtronic Inc.; and Abbott Laboratories Inc. Materialise NV was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.

About Xunlei

Xunlei Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates an internet platform for digital media content in the People's Republic of China. Its platform is based on cloud technology that enables users to access, store, manage, and consume digital media content. The company offers Xunlei Accelerator, which enables users to accelerate digital transmission over the internet; mobile acceleration plug-in, which provides mobile device users with benefits of download speed acceleration and download success rate improvements; and subscription services that offer users premium services through Green Channel and Fast Bird products. It also provides Mobile Xunlei, a mobile application that allows users to search, download, consume, and store digital media content; Xunlei Media Player, which supports online and offline play of digital media content, as well as simultaneous play of digital media content while it is being transmitted by Xunlei Accelerator; online games through online game website and mobile app; advertising services; live streaming products, including video and audio livestreaming; and develops software and computer software, as well as other internet value-added services. In addition, the company offers cloud computing services through OneThing Cloud, and StellarCloud; and hardware for edging computing, such as OneThing Edge Cube, and OneThing Edge Atom. Further it offers ThunderChain, a blockchain infrastructure product that enables its users to develop and manage blockchain applications. The company was formerly known as Giganology Limited and changed its name to Xunlei Limited in January 2011. Xunlei Limited was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China.