Head-To-Head Analysis: One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS) & Qualstar (OTCMKTS:QBAKD)

Qualstar (OTCMKTS:QBAKD) and One Stop Systems (NASDAQ:OSS) are both small-cap technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Qualstar and One Stop Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Qualstar	0	0	0	0	0.00
One Stop Systems	1	1	3	1	2.67

One Stop Systems has a consensus target price of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.05%. Given One Stop Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe One Stop Systems is more favorable than Qualstar.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.7% of One Stop Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 37.5% of Qualstar shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of One Stop Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Qualstar has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, One Stop Systems has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Qualstar and One Stop Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Qualstar	1.06%	N/A	N/A
One Stop Systems	2.67%	2.22%	1.71%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Qualstar and One Stop Systems”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Qualstar	$6.59 million	0.77	$70,000.00	N/A	N/A
One Stop Systems	$32.22 million	10.40	$5.09 million	$0.05	268.80

One Stop Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Qualstar.

Summary

One Stop Systems beats Qualstar on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Qualstar

Qualstar Corporation engages in power solutions and data storage systems businesses worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Power Solutions and Data Storage Systems. It provides data storage systems under the Qualstar brand and power solutions under the N2Power brand. The company designs, manufactures, and sells switching power supplies that are used to convert AC line voltage to DC voltages; or DC voltages to other DC voltages for use in various electronic equipment, such as telecommunications equipment, machine tools, routers, switches, wireless systems, and gaming devices. It also supports and sells data storage devices used to store, retrieve, and manage electronic data primarily in network computing environments. The company serves original equipment manufacturers, information technology departments, and lower and middle market companies through distributor and reseller network, distributors, and independent outside sales representatives. Qualstar Corporation was founded in 1984 and is based in Camarillo, California.

About One Stop Systems

One Stop Systems, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of high-performance compute, high speed storage hardware and software, switch fabrics, and systems for edge deployments in the United States and internationally. The company's systems are built using the central processing unit, graphical processing unit, high-speed switch fabrics, and flash storage technologies. It provides custom servers, data acquisition platforms, compute accelerators, solid-state storage arrays, and system I/O expansion systems, as well as edge optimized industrial and panel PCs, tablets, and handheld compute devices. The company also offers ruggedized mobile tablets and handhelds that meet the specialized requirement for devices deployed at the edge in a diverse set of environmental conditions. It sells its products to multinational companies, governmental agencies, military contractors, military services, and technology providers through its website, web store, direct sales team, and original equipment manufacturer focused sales, as well as through a network of resellers and distributors. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Escondido, California.