Critical Review: Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) & Sunnova Energy International (NYSE:NOVA)

Sunnova Energy International (NYSE:NOVA) and Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sunnova Energy International and Nextracker’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sunnova Energy International	$720.65 million	1.75	-$417.96 million	($3.37)	-2.99
Nextracker	$2.74 billion	1.97	$306.24 million	$3.36	11.08

Nextracker has higher revenue and earnings than Sunnova Energy International. Sunnova Energy International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nextracker, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.4% of Nextracker shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.5% of Sunnova Energy International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Nextracker shares are owned by 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.

Volatility and Risk

Sunnova Energy International has a beta of 2.19, indicating that its share price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nextracker has a beta of 2.49, indicating that its share price is 149% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sunnova Energy International and Nextracker’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sunnova Energy International	-45.76%	-8.85%	-1.64%
Nextracker	14.87%	-36.33%	14.22%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sunnova Energy International and Nextracker, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sunnova Energy International	0	8	16	1	2.72
Nextracker	0	4	18	0	2.82

Sunnova Energy International currently has a consensus target price of $15.26, indicating a potential upside of 51.24%. Nextracker has a consensus target price of $58.45, indicating a potential upside of 57.01%. Given Nextracker’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nextracker is more favorable than Sunnova Energy International.

Summary

Nextracker beats Sunnova Energy International on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sunnova Energy International

Sunnova Energy International Inc. engages in the provision of energy as a service in the United States. The company offers electricity, as well as offers operations and maintenance, monitoring, repairs and replacements, equipment upgrades, on-site power optimization, and solar energy system and energy storage system diagnostics services. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of residential solar energy systems with a generation capacity of approximately 2,292 megawatts serving over 419,000 customers. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Nextracker

Nextracker Inc., an energy solutions company, provides solar tracker and software solutions for utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects in the United States and internationally. The company offers tracking solutions, which includes NX Horizon, a solar tracking solution; and NX Horizon-XTR, a terrain-following tracker designed to expand the addressable market for trackers on sites with sloped, uneven, and challenging terrain. It also provides TrueCapture, a self-adjusting tracker control system, which boosts solar power plant production by optimizing the position of individual tracker row in response to site features, such as varying topography and changing weather conditions; and NX Navigator, that assists solar power plant owners and operators in monitoring, controlling, and protecting their solar projects. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Fremont, California. As of March 31, 2024 Nextracker Inc. was formerly a subsidiary of Flex Ltd.