Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) & FTC Solar (NASDAQ:FTCI) Critical Analysis

FTC Solar (NASDAQ:FTCI) and Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) are both small-cap energy companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares FTC Solar and Beam Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FTC Solar	$55.57 million	1.01	-$50.29 million	($3.74)	-1.15
Beam Global	$41.10 million	0.56	-$16.06 million	($1.60)	-0.94

Beam Global has lower revenue, but higher earnings than FTC Solar. FTC Solar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Beam Global, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.4% of FTC Solar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Beam Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.9% of FTC Solar shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Beam Global shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for FTC Solar and Beam Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FTC Solar	0	2	2	0	2.50
Beam Global	0	1	4	0	2.80

FTC Solar currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.28%. Beam Global has a consensus target price of $5.33, suggesting a potential upside of 255.56%. Given Beam Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Beam Global is more favorable than FTC Solar.

Profitability

This table compares FTC Solar and Beam Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FTC Solar	-82.90%	-98.67%	-44.11%
Beam Global	-19.26%	-19.09%	-12.16%

Risk & Volatility

FTC Solar has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beam Global has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Beam Global beats FTC Solar on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FTC Solar

FTC Solar, Inc. engages in the provision of solar tracker systems, software, and engineering services in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and Australia. The company offers a self-powered, two-panel in-portrait, and single-axis tracker solution under the Voyager brand name; and a one module-in-portrait solar tracker solution under the Pioneer brand name. Its customers include project developers and solar asset owners, as well as engineering, procurement, and construction contractors that design and build solar energy projects. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Beam Global

Beam Global, a clean-technology innovation company, engages in the design, development, engineering, manufacture, and sale of renewably energized infrastructure products and battery solutions. Its product portfolio includes EV ARC (electric vehicle autonomous renewable charger), an infrastructure product that uses integrated solar power and battery storage to provide a mounting asset and a source of power for factory installed electric vehicle charging stations; Solar Tree DCFC, an off-grid, renewably energized, and single-column mounted smart generation and energy storage system to provide a 150kW DC fast charge to one or more electric vehicles, such as electric buses, heavy-duty vehicles, agricultural equipment, public transportation, and electric vehicles used in the construction industry; and EV ARC DCFC, a DC fast charging system for charging EVs. The company is also involved in the development of EV-Standard, a lamp standard, EV charging, and emergency power product that uses an existing streetlamp's foundation and a combination of solar, wind, grid connection, and onboard energy storage to provide curbside charging; and UAV ARC, an off-grid and renewably energized product and network used to charge aerial drone (UAV) fleets. It offers its solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, energy storage, energy security, disaster preparedness, street lighting, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, and outdoor media and branding industries. The company was formerly known as Envision Solar International, Inc. and changed its name to Beam Global in September 2020. Beam Global was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.