Critical Analysis: LDK Solar (OTCMKTS:LDKYQ) and Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM)

Atomera (NASDAQ:ATOM) and LDK Solar (OTCMKTS:LDKYQ) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Atomera and LDK Solar, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atomera	0	0	1	0	3.00
LDK Solar	0	0	0	0	0.00

Atomera presently has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential downside of 39.66%. Given Atomera’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Atomera is more favorable than LDK Solar.

Volatility & Risk

Atomera has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its share price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LDK Solar has a beta of 6.17, indicating that its share price is 517% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.8% of Atomera shares are held by institutional investors. 13.0% of Atomera shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Atomera and LDK Solar”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atomera	$662,000.00	504.27	-$19.79 million	($0.70)	-16.57
LDK Solar	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

LDK Solar has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Atomera.

Profitability

This table compares Atomera and LDK Solar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atomera	-2,773.11%	-104.98%	-82.54%
LDK Solar	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Atomera beats LDK Solar on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atomera

Atomera Incorporated engages in the developing, commercializing, and licensing proprietary processes and technologies for the semiconductor industry in North America and the Asia Pacific. The company's lead technology is the Mears Silicon Technology, a thin film of reengineered silicon that can be applied as a transistor channel enhancement to CMOS-type transistors. Its customers include foundries, integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, and electronic design automation companies. The company was formerly known as Mears Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Atomera Incorporated in January 2016. Atomera Incorporated was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California.

About LDK Solar

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets photovoltaic (PV) products in the People's Republic of China, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company operates through two segments, Polysilicon and Other PV Products. It produces and sells solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon. The company also manufactures and sells multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules; and PV cells and PV modules. In addition, it provides solar module processing services; designs and develops solar farm projects, as well as offers related engineering, procurement, and construction services for solar farm projects; and sells silicon materials, which include ingots and polysilicon scraps. LDK Solar CO., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu, the People's Republic of China.