Financial Contrast: Captivision (NASDAQ:CAPT) versus ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH)

ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) and Captivision (NASDAQ:CAPT) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for ESS Tech and Captivision, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ESS Tech	2	4	2	1	2.22
Captivision	0	0	0	0	0.00

ESS Tech presently has a consensus price target of $14.58, indicating a potential upside of 162.29%. Given ESS Tech’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe ESS Tech is more favorable than Captivision.

Volatility & Risk

ESS Tech has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Captivision has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ESS Tech and Captivision’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ESS Tech	-1,263.79%	-101.96%	-66.46%
Captivision	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

46.8% of ESS Tech shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of ESS Tech shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Captivision shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ESS Tech and Captivision”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ESS Tech	$7.54 million	8.76	-$77.58 million	($6.55)	-0.85
Captivision	$14.64 million	0.96	-$74.73 million	N/A	N/A

Captivision has higher revenue and earnings than ESS Tech.

Summary

ESS Tech beats Captivision on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ESS Tech

ESS Tech, Inc., an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.

About Captivision

Captivision Inc. engages in the development and manufacture of an architectural media glass product called G-Glass which is an IT-enabled construction material capable of transforming buildings into digital media devices. The company was founded on February 24, 2023 and is headquartered in Nailsworth, the United Kingdom.