JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) versus Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) Critical Review

Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) and JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Power Integrations has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JinkoSolar has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Power Integrations and JinkoSolar, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Power Integrations	0	2	3	0	2.60
JinkoSolar	1	5	0	0	1.83

Power Integrations presently has a consensus target price of $87.40, indicating a potential upside of 24.57%. JinkoSolar has a consensus target price of $26.60, indicating a potential upside of 26.61%. Given JinkoSolar’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe JinkoSolar is more favorable than Power Integrations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Power Integrations and JinkoSolar’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Power Integrations	$444.54 million	8.97	$55.74 million	$0.92	76.34
JinkoSolar	$16.72 billion	0.07	$485.56 million	$6.41	3.28

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.8% of JinkoSolar shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Power Integrations shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of JinkoSolar shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares Power Integrations and JinkoSolar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Power Integrations	12.28%	6.13%	5.57%
JinkoSolar	2.74%	11.12%	2.81%

Dividends

Power Integrations pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. JinkoSolar pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Power Integrations pays out 87.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. JinkoSolar pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Power Integrations has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. JinkoSolar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

JinkoSolar beats Power Integrations on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion worldwide. The company provides a range of alternating current to direct current power conversion products that address power supply ranging from less than one watt of output to approximately 500 watts of output for mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, LED lighting, and various other consumer and industrial applications, as well as power conversion in high-power applications comprising industrial motors, solar and wind-power systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage DC transmission systems. It also offers high-voltage diodes; InnoSwitch IC for electric vehicles; high-voltage gate-driver products used to operate high-voltage switches, such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors and silicon-carbide MOSFETs under the SCALE and SCALE-2 product-family names; and SCALE-iDriver for use in powertrain and charging applications for electric vehicles. In addition, the company provides motor-driver ICs for use in refrigerator compressors, ceiling fans, and air purifiers, as well as pumps, fans, and blowers used in consumer appliances, such as dishwashers and laundry machines. It serves communications, computer, consumer, and industrial markets. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and merchant power supply manufacturers through direct sales staff, as well as a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Power Integrations, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About JinkoSolar

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; solar power generation and solar system EPC services; and energy storage system, as well as undertakes solar power projects. The company sells its products to distributors, project developers, system integrators, and manufacturers of solar power products under the JinkoSolar brand. As of December 31, 2023, it had an integrated annual capacity of 85 gigawatts (GW) for mono wafers; 90 GW for solar cells; and 110 GW for solar modules. It operates in China, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan, Vietnam, Egypt, Spain, Germany, and internationally. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shangrao, the People's Republic of China.