Critical Review: OriginClear (OTCMKTS:OCLN) and Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO)

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) and OriginClear (OTCMKTS:OCLN) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.5% of Veeco Instruments shares are held by institutional investors. 2.4% of Veeco Instruments shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of OriginClear shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Veeco Instruments and OriginClear, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veeco Instruments	0	3	4	0	2.57
OriginClear	0	0	0	0	0.00

Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus price target of $42.14, suggesting a potential upside of 53.81%. Given Veeco Instruments’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Veeco Instruments is more favorable than OriginClear.

Profitability

This table compares Veeco Instruments and OriginClear’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veeco Instruments	11.34%	10.92%	6.20%
OriginClear	N/A	-16.22%	-11.62%

Risk & Volatility

Veeco Instruments has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OriginClear has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Veeco Instruments and OriginClear”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veeco Instruments	$666.43 million	2.33	-$30.37 million	$1.35	20.30
OriginClear	$30,000.00	295.75	-$11.63 million	N/A	N/A

OriginClear has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Veeco Instruments.

Summary

Veeco Instruments beats OriginClear on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports semiconductor and thin film process equipment primarily to make electronic devices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, China, Rest of the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers laser annealing, ion beam deposition and etch, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, single wafer wet processing and surface preparation, molecular beam epitaxy, advanced packaging lithography, atomic layer deposition, and other deposition systems. Its process equipment systems are used in the production of a range of microelectronic components, including logic, dynamic random-access memory, photonics devices, power electronics, radio frequency filters and amplifiers, magnetic heads for hard disk drives, and other semiconductor devices. In addition, the company markets and sells its products to integrated device manufacturers and foundries; outsourced semiconductor assembly and test companies; and hard disk drive and photonics manufacturers, as well as research centers and universities. Veeco Instruments Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Plainview, New York.

About OriginClear

OriginClear, Inc. provides water treatment solutions worldwide. The company designs and manufactures a line of water treatment systems for municipal, industrial, and pure water applications. It also offers a range of services, including maintenance contracts, retrofits, and replacement assistance; and rents equipment through contracts of varying duration, as well as provides prefabricated water transport and treatment systems. The company was formerly known as OriginOil, Inc. and changed its name to OriginClear, Inc. in April 2015. OriginClear, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida.