Acorn Energy Inc. (ACFN) vs Astrotech Corporation (ASTC)

Acorn Energy Inc. and Astrotech Corporation are both Scientific & Technical Instruments companies. Acorn Energy Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $52.2M against $15.2M — 3.4× the size. Astrotech Corporation has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Acorn Energy Inc. trades at 33.9×. Astrotech Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 11.6% against −27.5%. Acorn Energy Inc. has the higher net margin (16.1% vs −1,397.8%) and the higher return on invested capital (9.78% vs −154.9%). Across the 18 metrics below, Acorn Energy Inc. leads on 13 and Astrotech Corporation on 5.

Valuation

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 33.85 n/m 35.93
P/S 5.50 11.83 4.46
P/B 5.95 0.98 3.00
Price to free cash flow 43.43 n/m 24.96
EV/EBITDA 57.75 n/m 19.60
EV/Sales 5.08 5.83 4.98
Earnings yield 2.95% (118.28%) 0.53%
Free cash flow yield 2.30% (123.55%) 1.12%

Profitability

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 80.29% 33.43% 45.75%
Operating margin 7.15% (1,369.84%) 7.34%
Net margin 16.12% (1,397.82%) 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 12.66% (1,461.41%) 5.84%
Return on equity 19.57% (76.35%) 2.87%
Return on assets 11.90% (64.54%) 0.99%
Return on invested capital 9.78% (154.85%) 3.88%

Growth

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) (27.50%) 11.63% 11.28%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (60.56%) (16.85%) —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 14.15% 16.54% 7.89%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 105.19% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Debt to equity 0.00 0.00 0.00
Current ratio 2.12 6.17 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (2.09) 1.34 0.44

Dividend

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield — — 0.72%
Payout ratio — 0.00 0.00

Size

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 52.20m 15.15m 483.67m

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