Reviewing Vuzix (NASDAQ:VUZI) and Turtle Beach (NASDAQ:TBCH)

Vuzix (NASDAQ:VUZI) and Turtle Beach (NASDAQ:TBCH) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.9% of Vuzix shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.0% of Turtle Beach shares are held by institutional investors. 8.3% of Vuzix shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Turtle Beach shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vuzix and Turtle Beach’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vuzix	-702.71%	-117.63%	-96.58%
Turtle Beach	5.26%	16.44%	7.25%

Risk & Volatility

Vuzix has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Turtle Beach has a beta of 2.15, indicating that its share price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Vuzix and Turtle Beach, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vuzix	1	0	1	0	2.00
Turtle Beach	1	2	4	0	2.43

Turtle Beach has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 33.04%. Given Turtle Beach’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Turtle Beach is more favorable than Vuzix.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vuzix and Turtle Beach”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vuzix	$5.76 million	41.46	-$73.54 million	($0.46)	-6.48
Turtle Beach	$372.77 million	0.70	$16.18 million	$0.86	15.73

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

Summary

Turtle Beach beats Vuzix on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vuzix

Vuzix Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) technologies and products for the enterprise, medical, defense, and consumer markets. The company’s products include head-mounted smart personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays, and augmented reality, as well as original equipment manufacturer waveguide optical components and display engines. It also provides certified ERP SaaS logistics solution to support hand-held mobile phones and scanners used in logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing applications. It holds approximately 375 patents and patents pending and various IP licenses in the fields of optics, head-mounted displays, and augmented reality Video Eyewear field. It sells its products through resellers, distributors, direct to commercial customers, and online stores, as well as various Vuzix operated web stores in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Icuiti Corporation and changed its name to Vuzix Corporation in September 2007. Vuzix Corporation was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in West Henrietta, New York.

About Turtle Beach

Turtle Beach Corporation operates as an audio technology company. It develops, commercializes, and markets gaming headset solutions for various platforms, including video game and entertainment consoles, personal computers, handheld consoles, tablets, and mobile devices under the Turtle Beach brand. The company also offers gaming headsets, keyboards, mice, mousepads, and other accessories for the personal computer peripherals market under the brand of ROCCAT, as well as digital USB and analog microphones under the Neat Microphones brand. It serves retailers, distributors, and other customers in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.