Critical Contrast: Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT) vs. Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP)

Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP) and Crane NXT (NYSE:CXT) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Knightscope and Crane NXT”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knightscope	$10.81 million	3.70	-$31.73 million	($3.94)	-0.91
Crane NXT	$1.49 billion	2.17	$184.10 million	$2.68	20.93

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.6% of Knightscope shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.5% of Crane NXT shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Knightscope shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Crane NXT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Knightscope and Crane NXT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knightscope	-256.09%	-156.57%	-92.71%
Crane NXT	9.80%	20.24%	8.67%

Volatility & Risk

Knightscope has a beta of 1.73, indicating that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crane NXT has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Knightscope and Crane NXT, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knightscope	1	0	3	0	2.50
Crane NXT	0	4	3	1	2.63

Knightscope presently has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 318.99%. Crane NXT has a consensus price target of $75.80, indicating a potential upside of 35.14%. Given Knightscope’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Knightscope is more favorable than Crane NXT.

Summary

Crane NXT beats Knightscope on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Knightscope

Knightscope, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, deploys, and supports autonomous security robots (ASR) in the United States. Its products include K3 and K5 ASRs designed to roam a geo-fenced area autonomously by utilizing numerous sensors and lasers, either on a random basis or based on a particular patrolling algorithm to navigate around people, vehicles, and objects in dynamic indoor or outdoor environments; K1, an ASR for used in indoors or outdoors and at ingress/egress points for both people and vehicles; and K7, a multi-terrain ASR. The company also develops and operates the Knightscope security operations center (KSOC), a browser-based interface, which allows real-time data access service to its clients for alert of an abnormal event; and Knightscope network operations center (KNOC), a custom set of tools that enables it to manage and monitor the network of ASRs with alerts related to critical indicators and statistics, including charging, software, navigation, and temperatures, as well as to execute over-the-air software upgrades, patches, and other related items. In addition, it offers Knightscope+, a virtual monitoring and response solution that provides an alternative for client sites. The company serves airports, commercial real estate, corporate campus, homeowner associations, hotels, universities, municipalities, rail, healthcare, public parks, schools, casinos, corporations, logistics, manufacturing, law enforcement, Parking areas, municipalities, universities, and property management companies, as well as the U.S. federal government. Knightscope, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

About Crane NXT

Crane NXT, Co. operates as an industrial technology company that provides technology solutions to secure, detect, and authenticate customers’ important assets. The company operates through Crane Payment Innovations and Crane Currency segments. The Crane Payment Innovations segment offers electronic equipment and associated software, as well as advanced automation solutions, processing systems, field service solutions, remote diagnostics, and productivity software solutions. The Crane Currency segment provides advanced security solutions based on proprietary technology for securing physical products, including banknotes, consumer goods, and industrial products. Crane NXT, Co. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.