Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Head to Head Survey

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) and Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) are both technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Plexus and Flex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plexus	4.08%	13.34%	5.74%
Flex	3.35%	24.93%	5.63%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Plexus and Flex, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plexus	0	1	7	1	3.00
Flex	0	2	8	2	3.00

Plexus currently has a consensus target price of $276.86, indicating a potential upside of 34.63%. Flex has a consensus target price of $131.78, indicating a potential upside of 68.58%. Given Flex’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Flex is more favorable than Plexus.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Plexus and Flex”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plexus	$4.96 billion	1.11	$202.49 million	$7.42	27.71
Flex	$27.91 billion	1.03	$880.00 million	$2.77	28.22

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.5% of Plexus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.3% of Flex shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Plexus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Flex shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Plexus has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Flex has a beta of 1.8, indicating that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Flex beats Plexus on 8 of the 14 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 Flex

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices. Its FRS segment provides complex ramps with specialized production models and critical environments, which comprise automotive including next generation mobility, autonomous, connectivity, electrification, and smart technologies; health solutions, such as medical devices, medical equipment, and drug delivery; and industrial solutions including capital equipment, industrial devices, and renewables and grid edge. The Nextracker segment offers solar tracker and software solutions, which are used in utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects. In addition, it provides a broad array of services including design and engineering, component services, rapid prototyping, fulfillment, and circular economy solutions. The company was formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd. and changed its name to Flex Ltd. in September 2016. Flex Ltd. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Singapore.