Critical Survey: Electrovaya (NASDAQ:ELVA) & One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS)

Electrovaya (NASDAQ:ELVA) and One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Electrovaya has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, One Stop Systems has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Electrovaya and One Stop Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Electrovaya	7.03%	11.35%	6.19%
One Stop Systems	12.44%	-0.24%	-0.18%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Electrovaya and One Stop Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Electrovaya	$63.83 million	7.61	$3.36 million	$0.12	81.75
One Stop Systems	$32.22 million	12.93	$5.09 million	$0.25	67.36

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Electrovaya and One Stop Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Electrovaya	0	2	3	1	2.83
One Stop Systems	0	2	3	0	2.60

Electrovaya currently has a consensus price target of $14.63, indicating a potential upside of 49.08%. One Stop Systems has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.99%. Given Electrovaya’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Electrovaya is more favorable than One Stop Systems.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.5% of Electrovaya shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.7% of One Stop Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of One Stop Systems 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.

Summary

Electrovaya beats One Stop Systems on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Electrovaya

Electrovaya Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of lithium-ion batteries, battery management systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation, and other specialized applications in North America. It offers lithium-ion batteries and systems for materials handling electric vehicles, including forklifts and automated guided vehicles, as well as battery chargers to charge the batteries; electromotive power products for electric trucks, electric buses, and other transportation applications; industrial products for energy storage; and power solutions, such as competencies in building systems for third parties. The company was formerly known as Electrofuel Inc. and changed its name to Electrovaya Inc. in March 2002. Electrovaya Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.

About One Stop Systems

One Stop Systems, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of high-performance compute, high speed storage hardware and software, switch fabrics, and systems for edge deployments in the United States and internationally. The company's systems are built using the central processing unit, graphical processing unit, high-speed switch fabrics, and flash storage technologies. It provides custom servers, data acquisition platforms, compute accelerators, solid-state storage arrays, and system I/O expansion systems, as well as edge optimized industrial and panel PCs, tablets, and handheld compute devices. The company also offers ruggedized mobile tablets and handhelds that meet the specialized requirement for devices deployed at the edge in a diverse set of environmental conditions. It sells its products to multinational companies, governmental agencies, military contractors, military services, and technology providers through its website, web store, direct sales team, and original equipment manufacturer focused sales, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Escondido, California.