Head-To-Head Review: Aeva Technologies (NASDAQ:AEVA) and OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR)

Aeva Technologies (NASDAQ:AEVA) and OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Aeva Technologies has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OPENLANE has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.9% of Aeva Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of OPENLANE shares are held by institutional investors. 27.2% of Aeva Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of OPENLANE shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Aeva Technologies and OPENLANE, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aeva Technologies	1	1	3	0	2.40
OPENLANE	0	2	4	1	2.86

Aeva Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $26.50, suggesting a potential upside of 38.74%. OPENLANE has a consensus target price of $30.20, suggesting a potential downside of 2.20%. Given Aeva Technologies’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Aeva Technologies is more favorable than OPENLANE.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aeva Technologies and OPENLANE”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aeva Technologies	$9.06 million	126.66	-$152.26 million	($5.32)	-3.59
OPENLANE	$1.79 billion	1.83	$109.90 million	$0.87	35.49

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

Profitability

This table compares Aeva Technologies and OPENLANE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aeva Technologies	-1,031.15%	-603.21%	-112.53%
OPENLANE	9.00%	12.42%	3.65%

Summary

OPENLANE beats Aeva Technologies on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aeva Technologies

Aeva Technologies, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of LiDAR sensing systems, and related perception and autonomy-enabling software solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The company develops its products using frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) sensing technology. It offers Aeries II, a 4D LiDAR solution that consist of 4D LiDAR sensing system with embedded software for automotive grade production across passenger car, trucking, and mobility applications; and Atlas, a FMCW 4D LiDAR with simultaneous velocity and range detection for the automotive market. The company's products are also used in industrial automation, consumer device, and security market applications. Aeva Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

About OPENLANE

OPENLANE, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles. Its digital marketplaces include OPENLANE, a mobile-app enabled solutions that allows dealers to sell and source inventory in the United States. This segment also provides value-added ancillary services, including inbound and outbound transportation logistics, reconditioning, vehicle inspection and certification, titling, administrative, and collateral recovery services. This segment sells its products and services through vehicle manufacturers, fleet companies, rental car companies, finance companies, and others. The Finance segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing to independent used vehicle dealers. The company serves commercial customers and dealer customers. The company was formerly known as KAR Auction Services, Inc. and changed its name to OPENLANE, Inc. in May 2023. OPENLANE, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.