Critical Analysis: BIO-key International (NASDAQ:BKYI) versus Exro Technologies (OTCMKTS:EXROF)

Exro Technologies (OTCMKTS:EXROF) and BIO-key International (NASDAQ:BKYI) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Exro Technologies and BIO-key International, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Exro Technologies	2	2	0	0	1.50
BIO-key International	1	0	0	0	1.00

Profitability

This table compares Exro Technologies and BIO-key International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Exro Technologies	-1,420.35%	N/A	-61.37%
BIO-key International	-70.23%	-73.33%	-43.89%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.5% of BIO-key International shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of BIO-key International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Exro Technologies and BIO-key International”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Exro Technologies	$16.84 million	0.10	-$210.86 million	($0.47)	-0.01
BIO-key International	$6.93 million	1.05	-$4.30 million	($1.04)	-0.64

BIO-key International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Exro Technologies. BIO-key International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Exro Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Exro Technologies has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BIO-key International has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Exro Technologies

Exro Technologies Inc. focuses on developing generation power-control electronics in Canada. The company offers Exro Coil Driver, which allows the motor to switch between different operational profiles in real-time, as well as have multiple gears for scooters, electric bikes, recreational, light electric cars, motorcycles, fleet vans, electric buses, passenger vehicles, long-haul trucks, and industrial vehicles markets; and Exro Cell Driver, a stationary energy storage system for commercial and industrial energy storage applications. It also provides electric vehicle consulting and engineering services. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About BIO-key International

BIO-key International, Inc. develops and markets fingerprint identification biometric technology and software solutions, and enterprise-ready identity access management solutions for commercial, government, and education customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers BIO-key PortalGuard and PortalGuard IDaaS solutions, a customer-controlled and neutral-by-design cloud-based identity platform that allows customers to integrate with any cloud or on-premises SaaS application, as well as windows device authentication through IAM platform. Its solutions enable its customers to secure their workforces and student populations; and make their partner networks more collaborative. In addition, it provides BIO-key VST and WEB-key products; and Civil and Large-Scale ID Infrastructure solutions that develops finger-based biometric technology. Further, it offers finger scanners for enterprise and consumer markets under SideSwipe, EcoID, and SidePass brand names. The company was formerly known as SAC Technologies and changed its name to BIO-key International, Inc. in 2002. BIO-key International, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.