Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) and JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) Financial Survey

JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) and Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares JinkoSolar and Photronics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JinkoSolar	2.89%	11.85%	3.00%
Photronics	15.34%	10.37%	8.69%

Risk and Volatility

JinkoSolar has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Photronics has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for JinkoSolar and Photronics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JinkoSolar	1	5	0	0	1.83
Photronics	0	1	0	0	2.00

JinkoSolar currently has a consensus price target of $26.60, indicating a potential upside of 15.55%. Photronics has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential downside of 24.00%. Given JinkoSolar’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe JinkoSolar is more favorable than Photronics.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.8% of JinkoSolar shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.4% of Photronics shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of JinkoSolar shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Photronics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares JinkoSolar and Photronics’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JinkoSolar	$16.72 billion	0.07	$485.56 million	$7.85	2.93
Photronics	$897.32 million	1.95	$125.49 million	$2.23	12.39

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

Summary

Photronics beats JinkoSolar on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JinkoSolar

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; and develops commercial solar power projects. The company sells its products to distributors, project developers, system integrators, and manufacturers of solar power products under the JinkoSolar brand. As of December 31, 2022, it had an integrated annual capacity of 65 gigawatts (GW) for mono wafers; 55 GW for solar cells; and 70 GW for solar modules. The company has operations in the People's Republic of China, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan, Vietnam, Egypt, Spain, and Germany. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Shangrao, the People's Republic of China.

About Photronics

Photronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates. The company offers electrical and optical components. It sells its products to semiconductor and FPD manufacturers, designers, and foundries, as well as to other high-performance electronics manufacturers through its sales personnel and customer service representatives. The company was formerly known as Photronic Labs, Inc. and changed its name to Photronics, Inc. in 1990. Photronics, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is based in Brookfield, Connecticut.