U Power (NASDAQ:UCAR) versus Adient (NYSE:ADNT) Critical Review

U Power (NASDAQ:UCAR) and Adient (NYSE:ADNT) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares U Power and Adient”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
U Power	$31.06 million	0.33	-$2.72 million	N/A	N/A
Adient	$14.52 billion	0.09	$18.00 million	$0.02	747.70

Adient has higher revenue and earnings than U Power.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for U Power and Adient, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
U Power	0	0	0	0	0.00
Adient	2	7	0	0	1.78

Adient has a consensus target price of $20.88, indicating a potential upside of 39.59%. Given Adient’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Adient is more favorable than U Power.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.2% of U Power shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.4% of Adient shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Adient shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares U Power and Adient’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
U Power	N/A	N/A	N/A
Adient	-0.01%	6.94%	1.77%

Risk & Volatility

U Power has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adient has a beta of 2.27, meaning that its stock price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Adient beats U Power on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About U Power

U Power Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of new energy vehicles and battery swapping stations in the People's Republic of China. It also offers battery swapping and sourcing, as well as technical and consultation services. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Wuhu, the People's Republic of China.

About Adient

Adient plc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and market of seating systems and components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light trucks. The company's automotive seating solutions include complete seating systems, frames, mechanisms, foams, head restraints, armrests, and trim covers. It serves automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America and South America; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and the Asia Pacific/China. Adient plc was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.