CPI Card Group (NASDAQ:PMTS – Get Free Report) and ECARX (NASDAQ:ECX – Get Free Report) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
22.1% of CPI Card Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of CPI Card Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of ECARX shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for CPI Card Group and ECARX, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CPI Card Group | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
| ECARX | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Risk and Volatility
CPI Card Group has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECARX has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares CPI Card Group and ECARX”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CPI Card Group | $480.60 million | 0.57 | $19.52 million | $1.59 | 15.28 |
| ECARX | $761.90 million | 1.03 | -$127.73 million | ($0.35) | -6.03 |
CPI Card Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than ECARX. ECARX is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CPI Card Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares CPI Card Group and ECARX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CPI Card Group | 3.83% | -66.46% | 7.43% |
| ECARX | -14.60% | N/A | -21.52% |
Summary
CPI Card Group beats ECARX on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About CPI Card Group
CPI Card Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, production, data personalization, packaging, and fulfillment of financial payment cards. It operates through Debit and Credit, and Prepaid Debit segments. The Debit and Credit segment produces financial payment cards and provides integrated card services to card-issuing financial institutions. Its products include Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) and non-EMV financial payment cards, including contact and contactless cards, plastic and encased metal cards, and Second Wave payment cards, as well as private label credit cards. This segment also provides on-demand services and various integrated card services, including card personalization and fulfillment, as well as instant issuance services. The Prepaid Debit segment primarily offers integrated card services comprising tamper-evident security packaging services to prepaid debit card providers. It also produces financial payment cards issued on the networks of the payment card brands. It serves issuers of debit and credit cards, Prepaid Debit Card program managers, community banks, credit unions, and group service providers in the United States. The company was formerly known as CPI Holdings I, Inc. and changed its name to CPI Card Group Inc. in August 2015. CPI Card Group Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.
About ECARX
ECARX Holdings Inc. develops a full stack automotive computing platform to shape the interaction between people and cars by rapidly advancing the technology by smart mobility worldwide. It offers system on chips, central computing platforms, operating systems, and software. Its core products include infotainment head units, digital cockpits, vehicle chip-set solutions, core operating system, and integrated software stack. The company has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Black Sesame Technologies. The company is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.
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