Critical Review: NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC) and Oxford Instruments (OTCMKTS:OXINF)

NVE (NASDAQ:NVEC) and Oxford Instruments (OTCMKTS:OXINF) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

NVE has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oxford Instruments has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NVE and Oxford Instruments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NVE	58.88%	24.62%	24.15%
Oxford Instruments	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.0% of NVE shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of NVE shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for NVE and Oxford Instruments, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NVE	0	0	0	0	0.00
Oxford Instruments	0	0	0	1	4.00

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares NVE and Oxford Instruments”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NVE	$29.80 million	13.16	$17.12 million	$3.34	24.32
Oxford Instruments	$536.00 million	N/A	$70.63 million	N/A	N/A

Oxford Instruments has higher revenue and earnings than NVE.

Summary

NVE beats Oxford Instruments on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NVE

NVE Corporation develops and sells devices that use spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin to acquire, store, and transmit information in the United States and internationally. The company manufactures spintronic products, including sensors and couplers for use in acquiring and transmitting data. Its products comprise standard sensors to detect the presence of a magnetic or metallic material to determine position, rotation, or speed for the factory automation market; and custom and medical sensors for medical devices to replace electromechanical magnetic switches. The company also offers spintronic couplers for power conversion and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market; and DC-to-DC convertors for use in power conversion systems and industrial networks for the IIoT. In addition, it undertakes contracts for research and development, and licensing of spintronic magnetoresistive random access memory technology. NVE Corporation was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

About Oxford Instruments

Oxford Instruments plc provide scientific technology products and services for academic and commercial organizations worldwide. It operates through three segments: Materials & Characterisation, Research & Discovery, and Service & Healthcare. The company offers atomic force, electron, and Raman microscopy; deposition tools comprising plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition, chemical vapour deposition, inductively coupled plasma chemical vapour deposition, atomic layer deposition, and ion beam deposition systems; and etch tools, including inductively coupled plasma etching, reactive ion etching, deep silicon etching, atomic layer etching, and ion beam etching systems. It also provides low temperature systems, such as dilution refrigerators, high field magnets, and cryostats; optical imaging products, including cameras, confocal microscopy, and 3d and 4d visualisation software; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) products comprising NMR spectrometers, TD-NMR research, QA/QC analyzers, and rock core analyzers; and X-Ray sources, tubes, and power supply products. Its products are used in various industries, such as advanced manufacturing, agriculture and food, astronomy, automotive and aerospace, bio imaging and life science, chemical and catalysis, energy generation and storage, forensics and environment, geology, petrology, mining, metals, alloys, composites, ceramics, pharma, photonics, polymers, quantum technologies, semiconductors, microelectronics, and data storage. Oxford Instruments plc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Abingdon, the United Kingdom.