Head-To-Head Comparison: Lumentum Holdings (LITE) & Ixia (XXIA)

Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ: LITE) and Ixia (NASDAQ:XXIA) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.1% of Lumentum Holdings shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.6% of Ixia shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Lumentum Holdings shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 24.4% of Ixia shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lumentum Holdings and Ixia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lumentum Holdings	-3.28%	19.55%	11.03%
Ixia	-29.28%	-28.71%	-19.71%

Risk and Volatility

Lumentum Holdings has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ixia has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lumentum Holdings and Ixia’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lumentum Holdings	$1.02 billion	3.71	$125.90 million	($0.56)	-110.53
Ixia	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.12	163.76

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Lumentum Holdings and Ixia, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lumentum Holdings	1	5	7	1	2.57
Ixia	0	3	1	0	2.25

Lumentum Holdings presently has a consensus target price of $59.23, indicating a potential downside of 4.31%. Ixia has a consensus target price of $19.65, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Given Ixia’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ixia is more favorable than Lumentum Holdings.

Summary

Lumentum Holdings beats Ixia on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

Lumentum Holdings Company Profile

Lumentum Holdings Inc. is a provider of optical and photonic products for a range of end market applications, including data communications (Datacom) and telecommunications (Telecom) networking and commercial lasers (commercial lasers) for manufacturing, inspection and life-science applications. The Company operates in two segments: Optical Communications (OpComms) and Commercial Lasers (Lasers). The Company’s OpComms products include a range of components, modules and subsystems to support and maintain customers in its two primary markets: Telecom and Datacom. The Company’s Lasers products serve customers in markets and applications, such as manufacturing, biotechnology, graphics and imaging, remote sensing, and precision machining, such as drilling in printed circuit boards, wafer singulation and solar cell scribing. The Company’s customers include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Ixia Company Profile

Ixia is a provider of physical and virtual network application performance and security resilience solutions. The Company’s product solutions consist of its hardware platforms, software applications and services, including warranty and maintenance offerings. The Company helps its customers to validate the performance and security resilience of their applications and networks. The Company offers network test hardware platforms with interchangeable interfaces, using a common set of applications and Application Programing Interfaces (APIs). The Company provides its solutions to network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), service providers, and enterprise and government organizations. The Company’s product solutions consist of its hardware platforms, such as chassis, interface cards and appliances, software application tools, and services, including its warranty and maintenance offerings and professional services.