Financial Comparison: Wearable Devices (NASDAQ:WLDS) versus Acuity (NYSE:AYI)

Wearable Devices (NASDAQ:WLDS) and Acuity (NYSE:AYI) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Wearable Devices has a beta of 3.53, suggesting that its stock price is 253% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acuity has a beta of 1.62, suggesting that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Wearable Devices and Acuity, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wearable Devices	1	0	0	0	1.00
Acuity	0	3	6	1	2.80

Acuity has a consensus target price of $395.17, indicating a potential upside of 9.57%. Given Acuity’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acuity is more favorable than Wearable Devices.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Wearable Devices shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Acuity shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acuity shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Wearable Devices and Acuity”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wearable Devices	$520,000.00	31.06	-$7.88 million	N/A	N/A
Acuity	$4.35 billion	2.54	$396.60 million	$12.53	28.78

Acuity has higher revenue and earnings than Wearable Devices.

Profitability

This table compares Wearable Devices and Acuity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wearable Devices	N/A	N/A	N/A
Acuity	9.13%	20.81%	12.00%

Summary

Acuity beats Wearable Devices on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wearable Devices

Wearable Devices Ltd. engages in the development of a non-invasive neural input interface for controlling digital devices using subtle touchless finger movements. The company offers Mudra development kits that enable users to control digital devices, including consumer electronics, smart watches, smartphones, AR glasses, VR headsets, televisions, personal computers and laptop computers, drones, robots, and others through finger movements and hand gestures; and SNC sensor module, an operating system (OS) software package and algorithm package to customers. It also provides Mudra Band, a neural input wristband, which allows users to control Apple ecosystem devices, including iPhone, Mac computer, Apple TV, and iPad using subtle touchless finger movements and gestures; and Mudra XR wristband, a wearable controller for smart glasses and spatial computing that supports hands-free interaction. The company serves consumer electronics companies and brands, industrial manufacturing companies, information technology and software solutions providers, software development studios, academia and research universities, and B2C market. Wearable Devices Ltd. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Yokneam Illit, Israel.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc. provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch. This segment serves electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, national accounts, original equipment manufacturers, digital retailers, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies. The ISG segment offers building management solutions, such as products for controlling heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, shades, refrigeration, and building access that deliver end-to-end optimization of those building systems; and building management software that enhances building system management and automates labor intensive tasks. This segment serves system integrators, as well as retail stores, airports, and enterprise campuses. The company offers its products and solutions under the Atrius, Distech Controls, and KE2 Therm Solutions brands. Acuity Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.