Head-To-Head Analysis: Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) vs. Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN)

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) and Canaan (NASDAQ:CAN) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Seagate Technology and Canaan”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seagate Technology	$12.20 billion	12.30	$3.18 billion	$13.88	47.54
Canaan	$529.73 million	0.31	-$210.27 million	($0.44)	-0.53

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

Profitability

This table compares Seagate Technology and Canaan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seagate Technology	26.11%	369.98%	37.58%
Canaan	-67.78%	-77.73%	-51.51%

Volatility & Risk

Seagate Technology has a beta of 2.06, suggesting that its share price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Canaan has a beta of 2.63, suggesting that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Seagate Technology and Canaan, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seagate Technology	0	5	22	0	2.81
Canaan	2	0	5	1	2.62

Seagate Technology currently has a consensus target price of $973.40, indicating a potential upside of 47.52%. Canaan has a consensus target price of $1.75, indicating a potential upside of 654.31%. Given Canaan’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Canaan is more favorable than Seagate Technology.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.9% of Seagate Technology shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.1% of Canaan shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Seagate Technology shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Canaan shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Seagate Technology beats Canaan on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc provides data storage technology and solutions in Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands, and internationally. It provides mass capacity storage products, including enterprise nearline hard disk drives (HDDs), enterprise nearline solid state drives (SSDs), enterprise nearline systems, video and image HDDs, and network-attached storage drives. The company also offers legacy applications comprising Mission Critical HDDs and SSDs; external storage solutions under the Seagate Ultra Touch, One Touch, and Expansion product lines, as well as under the LaCie brand name; desktop drives; notebook drives, DVR HDDs, and gaming SSDs. In addition, it provides Lyve edge-to-cloud mass capacity platform. The company sells its products primarily to OEMs, distributors, and retailers. Seagate Technology Holdings plc was founded in 1978 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

About Canaan

Canaan Inc. engages in the research, design, and sale of integrated circuit (IC) final mining equipment products by integrating IC products for bitcoin mining and related components in the People's Republic of China. It is also involved in the assembly and distribution of mining equipment and spare parts. The company has operations in the United States, Australia, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Canada, Mainland China, Thailand, Sweden, and internationally. Canaan Inc. was founded in 2013 and is based in Singapore.