Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) & 908 Devices (NASDAQ:MASS) Financial Analysis

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and 908 Devices (NASDAQ:MASS) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Plexus and 908 Devices, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plexus	0	1	5	1	3.00
908 Devices	1	0	3	0	2.50

Plexus currently has a consensus target price of $273.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.92%. 908 Devices has a consensus target price of $12.83, suggesting a potential upside of 34.80%. Given 908 Devices’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe 908 Devices is more favorable than Plexus.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.5% of Plexus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of 908 Devices shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Plexus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.2% of 908 Devices shares are owned by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

Plexus has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 908 Devices has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Plexus and 908 Devices’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plexus	4.03%	12.46%	5.57%
908 Devices	-56.96%	-12.54%	-8.87%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Plexus and 908 Devices”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plexus	$4.03 billion	1.69	$172.88 million	$6.78	37.66
908 Devices	$56.20 million	7.00	$19.49 million	($0.95)	-10.02

Plexus has higher revenue and earnings than 908 Devices. 908 Devices is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plexus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Plexus beats 908 Devices on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin.

About 908 Devices

908 Devices Inc., a commercial-stage technology company, provides various purpose-built handheld and desktop mass spectrometry devices to interrogate unknown and invisible materials in life sciences research, bioprocessing, pharma/biopharma, forensics, and adjacent markets. The company's products include MX908, a handheld, battery-powered, and Mass Spec device that is designed for rapid analysis of solid, liquid, vapor, and aerosol materials of unknown identity; Rebel, a small desktop analyzer that provides real-time information on the extracellular environment in bioprocesses; and Maverick, an optical in-line analyzer that offers real-time monitoring and control of multiple bioprocess parameters, including glucose, lactate, and total biomass in mammalian cell cultures, as well as provides process fingerprint data to support large-scale efforts in predictive bioprocess modeling. Its products also comprise Maven and Trace C2, an online device for bioprocess monitoring and control; and ZipChip solution, a plug-and-play, high-resolution separation platform that optimizes Mass Spec sample analysis. The company operates in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and rest of the Americas. 908 Devices Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.