Comparing Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC) & Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY)

Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC) and Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Astrotech and Mercury Systems, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astrotech	1	0	0	0	1.00
Mercury Systems	2	3	4	1	2.40

Mercury Systems has a consensus price target of $86.89, indicating a potential upside of 1.78%. Given Mercury Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Mercury Systems is more favorable than Astrotech.

Profitability

This table compares Astrotech and Mercury Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astrotech	-1,069.89%	-59.71%	-51.64%
Mercury Systems	-3.23%	1.28%	0.76%

Risk and Volatility

Astrotech has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mercury Systems has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Astrotech and Mercury Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astrotech	$1.05 million	5.20	-$13.85 million	($8.45)	-0.37
Mercury Systems	$912.02 million	5.62	-$37.90 million	($0.53)	-161.08

Astrotech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Mercury Systems. Mercury Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astrotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.4% of Astrotech shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Mercury Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 16.8% of Astrotech shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Mercury Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Mercury Systems beats Astrotech on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astrotech

Astrotech Corporation operates as a mass spectrometry company worldwide. It owns and licenses the intellectual property related to the Astrotech Mass Spectrometer Technology, a platform mass spectrometry technology. The company also develops TRACER 1000, a mass spectrometer-based explosive trace detector to replace the explosives trace detectors used at airports, cargo and other secured facilities, and borders. In addition, it develops AgLAB-1000, a mass spectrometer for use in the hemp and cannabis market. Further, the company develops BreathTest-1000, a breath analysis tool to screen for volatile organic compound metabolites found in a person's breath. The company was formerly known as SPACEHAB, Inc. and changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Austin, Texas.

About Mercury Systems

Mercury Systems, Inc., a technology company, manufactures and sells components, products, modules, and subsystems for aerospace and defense industries in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its products and solutions are deployed in approximately 300 programs with 25 defense contractors and commercial aviation customers. The company offers components, including power amplifiers and limiters, switches, oscillators, filters, equalizers, digital and analog converters, chips, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and memory and storage devices; modules and sub-assemblies, such as embedded processing boards, switched fabrics and boards, digital receivers, multi-chip modules, integrated radio frequency and microwave multi-function assemblies, tuners, and transceivers, as well as graphics and video boards; and integrated subsystems. It also designs and develops digital radio frequency memory units for various modern electronic warfare applications; radar environment simulation and test systems for defense and intelligence applications; and signals intelligence payloads and EO/IR technologies for small UAV platforms, as well as onboard UAV processor systems for real-time wide area motion imagery. The company was formerly known as Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Mercury Systems, Inc. in November 2012. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.