Head-To-Head Review: Peraso (NASDAQ:PRSO) versus Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR)

Ichor (NASDAQ:ICHR) and Peraso (NASDAQ:PRSO) 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, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Ichor and Peraso’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ichor	-3.97%	0.47%	0.33%
Peraso	-85.63%	-223.38%	-153.27%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ichor and Peraso”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ichor	$947.65 million	1.54	-$52.78 million	($1.17)	-33.25
Peraso	$8.37 million	0.72	-$4.75 million	($0.68)	-0.58

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ichor and Peraso, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ichor	1	2	6	1	2.70
Peraso	1	0	2	0	2.33

Ichor currently has a consensus target price of $85.89, suggesting a potential upside of 120.79%. Peraso has a consensus target price of $3.08, suggesting a potential upside of 677.05%. Given Peraso’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Peraso is more favorable than Ichor.

Volatility and Risk

Ichor has a beta of 1.79, meaning that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peraso has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Ichor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.6% of Peraso shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Ichor shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Peraso shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ichor beats Peraso on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ichor

Ichor Holdings, Ltd. engages in the design, engineering, and manufacture of fluid delivery subsystems and components for semiconductor capital equipment in the United States and internationally. It primarily offers gas and chemical delivery systems and subsystems that are used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. The company's gas delivery subsystems deliver, monitor, and control gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, such as etch and deposition; and chemical delivery subsystems blend and dispense the reactive liquid chemistries used in semiconductor manufacturing processes comprising chemical-mechanical planarization, electroplating, and cleaning. In addition, it manufactures precision machined components, weldments, electron beam, laser-welded components, precision vacuum and hydrogen brazing, surface treatment technologies, and other proprietary products. The company primarily markets its products to equipment OEMs in the semiconductor equipment market in Japan. Ichor Holdings, Ltd. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About Peraso

Peraso Inc., a fabless semiconductor company, develops, markets, and sells semiconductor devices and modules. The company's products include millimeter wavelength (mmWave) ICs, including baseband IC, various mmWave radio frequency, integrated circuits, as well as associated antenna technology; and mmWave antenna modules. It also provides accelerator engine products, comprising bandwidth engine for high-performance applications where throughput is critical; and quad partition rate, which allows for parallel accesses to multiple partitions of the memory simultaneously. Its mmWave products are used for various applications, such as multi-gigabit point-to-point (PtMP) wireless links; and fixed wireless access in the 5G operating bands, as well as consumer applications, such as wireless video streaming, and untethered augmented reality and virtual reality. The company also licenses intellectual property, as well as offers non-recurring engineering services. It markets its products through direct sales personnel, as well as sells representatives and distributors. The company was formerly knowns as MoSys, Inc. and changed its name to Peraso Inc. in December 2021. Peraso Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is based in San Jose, California.