Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) & Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) Head-To-Head Survey

Wabash National (NYSE:WNC) and Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Wabash National and Beam Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wabash National	-4.41%	-30.16%	-8.79%
Beam Global	-73.22%	-73.50%	-42.14%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.1% of Wabash National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Wabash National shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wabash National and Beam Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wabash National	$1.47 billion	0.31	$211.45 million	($1.60)	-7.09
Beam Global	$28.24 million	1.08	-$27.00 million	($0.96)	-1.43

Wabash National has higher revenue and earnings than Beam Global. Wabash National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Beam Global, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Wabash National and Beam Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wabash National	1	1	1	0	2.00
Beam Global	1	2	0	0	1.67

Wabash National currently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 27.88%. Given Wabash National’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Wabash National is more favorable than Beam Global.

Volatility & Risk

Wabash National has a beta of 1.55, indicating that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beam Global has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wabash National beats Beam Global on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wabash National

Wabash National Corporation provides connected solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment designs and manufactures transportation-related equipment and products dry and refrigerated van trailers, platform trailers, tank trailers, and truck-mounted tanks; truck bodies for dry-freight transportation; cargo and cargo XL bodies for commercial applications; refrigerated truck bodies; platform truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; steel flatbed bodies, truck body mounting, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, thermal solutions, and others; truck body repair parts; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. It also develops and scales a digital marketplace for the transportation and logistics distribution industry; operates a parts and services distribution platform; and stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech markets; trailers as a service; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products, as well as used trailers. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It serves its products to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. Wabash National Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.

About Beam Global

Beam Global, a clean-technology innovation company, engages in the design, development, engineering, manufacture, and sale of renewably energized infrastructure products and battery solutions. Its product portfolio includes EV ARC (electric vehicle autonomous renewable charger), an infrastructure product that uses integrated solar power and battery storage to provide a mounting asset and a source of power for factory installed electric vehicle charging stations; Solar Tree DCFC, an off-grid, renewably energized, and single-column mounted smart generation and energy storage system to provide a 150kW DC fast charge to one or more electric vehicles, such as electric buses, heavy-duty vehicles, agricultural equipment, public transportation, and electric vehicles used in the construction industry; and EV ARC DCFC, a DC fast charging system for charging EVs. The company is also involved in the development of EV-Standard, a lamp standard, EV charging, and emergency power product that uses an existing streetlamp's foundation and a combination of solar, wind, grid connection, and onboard energy storage to provide curbside charging; and UAV ARC, an off-grid and renewably energized product and network used to charge aerial drone (UAV) fleets. It offers its solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy security, disaster preparedness, street lighting, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, and outdoor media and branding industries. The company was formerly known as Envision Solar International, Inc. and changed its name to Beam Global in September 2020. Beam Global was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.