Reviewing Socket Mobile (SCKT) and Its Peers

Socket Mobile (NASDAQ:SCKT) is one of 378 publicly-traded companies in the “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Socket Mobile to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.7% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by institutional investors. 54.8% of Socket Mobile shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.3% of shares of all “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Socket Mobile and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Socket Mobile	1	0	0	0	1.00
Socket Mobile Competitors	1996	7509	10231	626	2.47

As a group, “Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components” companies have a potential upside of 23.08%. Given Socket Mobile’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Socket Mobile has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility and Risk

Socket Mobile has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Socket Mobile’s peers have a beta of -0.31, suggesting that their average stock price is 131% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Socket Mobile and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Socket Mobile	$15.08 million	-$14.38 million	-0.33
Socket Mobile Competitors	$3.96 billion	$190.58 million	-6.41

Socket Mobile’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Socket Mobile. Socket Mobile is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Socket Mobile and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Socket Mobile	-107.50%	-229.41%	-89.45%
Socket Mobile Competitors	-184.39%	-149.91%	-6.96%

Summary

Socket Mobile peers beat Socket Mobile on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Socket Mobile

Socket Mobile, Inc. provides data capture and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its products and solutions are integrated into mobile applications for applications in the areas of point of sale, commercial services, asset tracking, manufacturing and quality control processes, transportation and logistics, event management, medical, and education. The company also offers cordless data capture devices that connect through Bluetooth and work with applications running on smartphones, mobile computers, and tablets; SocketScan and DuraScan 700 series, companion scanners and 800 series, attachable scanners, and wearables; and DuraSled, a barcode scanning sled that protects phones from impact damage and provides charging solutions. In addition, it offers D600, a handheld model to reads and writes various types of electronic SmartTags and transfers data with near-field communication (NFC); S550, a contactless membership card reader/writer; and S370 product that supports barcode scanning, and NFC reading and writing technologies. Further, the company provides SocketCam C820 and C860, which are camera-based barcode scanners; software developer kits, such as CaptureSDK that enables the App providers to modify captured data, control the placement of the barcoded or RFID data in their applications, and control the feedback to the user. It serves retail, commercial services, industrial and manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare industries through a network of distributors, online resellers, and application providers, as well as online stores. The company was formerly known as Socket Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Socket Mobile, Inc. in April 2008. Socket Mobile, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.