Lumentum (LITE) Competitors

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) and Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) are both mid-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, earnings, profitability, community ranking, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor LITE or IRDM?

Lumentum received 407 more outperform votes than Iridium Communications when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.89% of users gave Lumentum an outperform vote while only 58.76% of users gave Iridium Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Lumentum	Outperform Votes 890 71.89%	Underperform Votes 348 28.11%
Iridium Communications	Outperform Votes 483 58.76%	Underperform Votes 339 41.24%

Do analysts rate LITE or IRDM?

Lumentum presently has a consensus price target of $52.08, suggesting a potential upside of 21.42%. Iridium Communications has a consensus price target of $44.75, suggesting a potential upside of 49.62%. Given Iridium Communications' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Iridium Communications is more favorable than Lumentum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lumentum	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.42
Iridium Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, LITE or IRDM?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lumentum	$1.77B	1.64	-$131.60M	-$3.94	-10.89
Iridium Communications	$790.72M	4.60	$15.41M	$0.21	142.52

Does the media prefer LITE or IRDM?

In the previous week, Lumentum had 25 more articles in the media than Iridium Communications. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Lumentum and 2 mentions for Iridium Communications. Iridium Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Lumentum's score of 0.46 indicating that Iridium Communications is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lumentum	4 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Iridium Communications	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, LITE or IRDM?

Lumentum has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LITE or IRDM?

94.1% of Lumentum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Lumentum shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Iridium Communications shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is LITE or IRDM more profitable?

Iridium Communications has a net margin of 3.20% compared to Lumentum's net margin of -18.52%. Iridium Communications' return on equity of 2.76% beat Lumentum's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lumentum	-18.52%	1.04%	0.31%
Iridium Communications	3.20%	2.76%	0.93%

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Lumentum on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.