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 $47.0M against $11.0M — 4.3× the size. Astrotech Corporation has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Acorn Energy Inc. trades at 29.6×. Astrotech Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: −13.0% against −27.5%. Acorn Energy Inc. has the higher net margin (16.1% vs −1,580.2%) and the higher return on invested capital (9.78% vs −182.6%). Across the 19 metrics below, Acorn Energy Inc. leads on 12 and Astrotech Corporation on 7.

Valuation

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
P/E 29.56 n/m 33.25
P/S 4.80 9.18 4.50
P/B 5.20 0.52 2.90
Price to free cash flow 37.93 n/m 24.81
EV/EBITDA 49.83 0.19 17.92
EV/Sales 4.38 (2.65) 4.71
Earnings yield 3.38% (172.21%) 0.60%
Free cash flow yield 2.64% (171.01%) 1.27%

Profitability

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Gross margin 80.29% 23.77% 45.75%
Operating margin 7.15% (1,548.52%) 7.34%
Net margin 16.12% (1,580.18%) 1.56%
Free cash flow margin 12.66% (1,569.77%) 5.84%
Return on equity 19.57% (75.39%) 2.87%
Return on assets 11.90% (60.75%) 0.99%
Return on invested capital 9.78% (182.64%) 3.88%

Growth

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Revenue growth (TTM) (27.50%) (12.96%) 11.15%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (60.56%) (2.04%) 11.47%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 14.15% 22.28% 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 7.06 2.24
Net debt to EBITDA (2.09) 0.87 0.44

Dividend

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Dividend yield — — 0.58%
Payout ratio — — 0.36

Size

Metric ACFN ASTC Scientific & Technical Instruments median
Market cap 47.03m 10.96m 444.25m

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