CPI Card Group (NASDAQ:PMTS – Get Free Report) and Quantum (NASDAQ:QMCO – Get Free Report) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for CPI Card Group and Quantum, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CPI Card Group | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.67 |
| Quantum | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.60 |
CPI Card Group presently has a consensus target price of $30.25, indicating a potential upside of 3.99%. Quantum has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.82%. Given Quantum’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Quantum is more favorable than CPI Card Group.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CPI Card Group | $587.31 million | 0.57 | $14.95 million | $1.15 | 25.30 |
| Quantum | $279.58 million | 3.14 | -$101.05 million | ($13.24) | -1.68 |
CPI Card Group has higher revenue and earnings than Quantum. Quantum 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 Quantum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CPI Card Group | 2.34% | -145.74% | 6.29% |
| Quantum | -80.76% | N/A | -7.28% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
22.1% of CPI Card Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.7% of Quantum shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of CPI Card Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 41.0% of Quantum shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
CPI Card Group has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quantum has a beta of 2.97, indicating that its stock price is 197% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
CPI Card Group beats Quantum on 7 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 Quantum
Quantum Corporation provides products for storing and managing digital video and unstructured data in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers Myriad All-Flash File and Object Storage Software for high performance enterprise unstructured data applications such as AI, machine learning, and data analytics; Unified Surveillance Platform Software that unified compute and storage for video surveillance recording, storage, and analytics; StorNext Hybrid Flash/Disk File Storage Software for video editing, post-production, and streaming applications, as well as digital file archives; and CatDV Asset Management Software for indexing, cataloging, enriching video, audio, and image files, and workflow orchestration. It also provides ActiveScale Object Storage Software that scalable and durable storage for long term data preservation and protection; DXi Backup Appliances to build backup appliances for high-speed backup and recovery and multisite data protection; and Scalar Tape Storage that secure storage for long term data archiving and offline data protection which are used by hyperscalers and enterprises. In addition, the company sells linear tape-open (LTO) a tape drives for small business data protection and archiving; and LTO media for use in tape storage systems. Further, it offers global support, managed services, customer support agreements, software subscriptions, installation, education, and consulting and training services, as well as Quantum-as-a-Service. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, value-added resellers, direct marketing resellers, original equipment manufacturers, and other suppliers, as well as directly to corporate entities and government agencies. It has a partnership with Tiger Surveillance to deliver end-to-end solutions for long-term retention and archiving of video surveillance data. Quantum Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.
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