Head to Head Review: Cepton (NASDAQ:CPTN) and China Zenix Auto International (OTCMKTS:ZXAIY)

China Zenix Auto International (OTCMKTS:ZXAIY) and Cepton (NASDAQ:CPTN) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares China Zenix Auto International and Cepton”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
China Zenix Auto International	$271.18 million	0.20	-$61.16 million	($2.23)	-0.46
Cepton	$21.16 million	2.32	-$48.55 million	($2.56)	-1.20

Cepton has lower revenue, but higher earnings than China Zenix Auto International. Cepton is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than China Zenix Auto International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares China Zenix Auto International and Cepton’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
China Zenix Auto International	-41.87%	-40.07%	-24.13%
Cepton	-124.14%	N/A	-34.81%

Volatility & Risk

China Zenix Auto International has a beta of 2.6, meaning that its share price is 160% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cepton has a beta of 0.08, meaning that its share price is 92% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.2% of Cepton shares are held by institutional investors. 36.1% of Cepton shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for China Zenix Auto International and Cepton, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
China Zenix Auto International	0	0	0	0	N/A
Cepton	0	2	0	0	2.00

Summary

China Zenix Auto International beats Cepton on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China Zenix Auto International

China Zenix Auto International Ltd. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of steel wheels for commercial vehicles. It operates through the following segments: PRC Aftermarket Sales, PRC OEM Sales, and International Sales. The PRC Aftermarket Sales segment produces and sells steel and aluminum wheels to distributors. The PRC OEM Sales segment produces and sells steel and aluminum wheels to vehicle manufacturers. The International Sales segment manufactures wheels to distributors and vehicle manufacturers outside China. The company was founded on July 11, 2008 and is headquartered in Zhangzhou, China.

About Cepton

Cepton, Inc. provides lidar-based solutions for automotive, smart cities, smart spaces, and smart industrial applications in the United States, Japan, China, and internationally. The company offers autograde lidar sensors, including Cepton Ultra, a slimmest lidar with MagnoSteer technology and proprietary ASIC chipset, enabling a combination of 300-meter range at 10% reflectivity and 0.05° resolution; Vista-X, a compact lidar solution with a range of up to 200m for long-range applications in ADAS L2+/L3, AV L4/L5, and suitable for smart infrastructure applications; and Nova, an extremely-small form factor lidar solution with a range of up to 30m for near-range applications in ADAS L2+/L3, AV L4/L5, and suitable for smart infrastructure applications. It also provides industrial grade lidar sensors, such as Vista-P, a compact lidar solution with a range of up to 200m for long-range applications in ADAS L2+/L3, AV L4/L5, and smart infrastructure applications; and Sora-P, an ultra-high scan rate, compact, and quasi line-scanning lidar solution that delivers high-fidelity profiling of objects moving at high speeds for free flow tolling and other industrial applications. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.