OUST vs ZBRA vs REFR Stock Comparison

Ouster, Zebra Technologies and Research Frontiers Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
OUST Ouster, Inc.
$29.71 -32.0% 1M -17.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.13B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$204.91M
Div. yield
–
Electronic Components Technology
1 win
ZBRA Zebra Technologies Corp
$384.15 +3.8% 1M +24.4% 1Y
Market cap
$18.26B
P/E
33.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.85B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Components Technology
6 wins
REFR Research Frontiers Inc
$0.45 -43.0% 1M -77.5% 1Y
Market cap
$14.64M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$654.23K
Div. yield
–
Electronic Components Technology

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Zebra Technologies leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Zebra Technologies 6, Ouster 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionOUSTZBRAREFRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.13B $18.26B $14.64M ZBRA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -39.9x 33.9x -6.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 17.0x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +62.8% +12.7% -46.5% OUST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -26.0% 9.2% -343.9% ZBRA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -17.0% +24.4% -77.5% ZBRA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -14.4%/yr -5.8%/yr -27.9%/yr ZBRA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 102.2% 47.3% 95.9% ZBRA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 61/100 18/100 ZBRA

Percentile Scorecard

OUSTZBRAREFR

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisOUSTZBRAREFR
Valuation 11 #99 of 111 63 #42 of 111 5 #106 of 111
Growth 82 #20 of 108 48 #57 of 108 10 #97 of 108
Profitability 14 #90 of 104 85 #17 of 104 5 #99 of 104
Financial Health 88 #15 of 115 18 #95 of 115 52 #56 of 115
Shareholder Returns 24 #62 of 81 93 #7 of 81 19 #66 of 81
Overall 44 61 18
  • OUST ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ZBRA ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • REFR ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodOUSTZBRAREFRSPY
1 month -32.0%+3.8%-43.0% -0.8%
3 months -15.5%+45.2%-2.2% +3.5%
6 months +10.4%+73.8%-52.6% +7.0%
Year to date +37.3%+58.2%-65.6% +12.2%
1 year -17.0%+24.4%-77.5% +13.0%
3 years +683.9%+85.4%-58.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +98.7%+22.9%-25.3% +23.1%
5 years -54.1%-25.8%-80.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -14.4%-5.8%-27.9% +11.0%
10 years —+472.1%-79.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+19.1%-14.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureOUSTZBRAREFRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 102.2%47.3%95.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 100.6%42.0%92.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 4.571.691.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.170.52-0.81 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -95.8%-67.8%-86.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -52.5%-1.8%-80.9% -1.8%
52-week high $62.52$391.00$2.36 $779.14
52-week low $16.63$199.30$0.38 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleOUSTZBRAREFR
P/E now vs peer median -36.8xmedian 32.0x 34.0xmedian 32.0x -7.0xmedian 32.0x
P/S now vs peer median 9.9xmedian 2.8x 3.1xmedian 2.8x 24.0xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -33.8xmedian 19.4x 19.4xmedian 19.4x -6.4xmedian 19.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -24.7xmedian 29.0x 20.1xmedian 29.0x -10.0xmedian 29.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 2.9x 5.3xmedian 2.9x 14.0xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median -0.65median 1.13 -9.00median 1.13 -4.98median 1.13

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsOUSTZBRAREFR
Revenue $204.91M $5.85B $654.23K
Gross profit $101.63M $2.90B –
Operating income -$62.60M $858.00M -$2.28M
Net income -$53.33M $539.00M -$2.25M
Free cash flow -$82.47M $904.00M -$1.56M
R&D $68.46M $622.00M $551.00K
EPS (diluted) $-0.81 $11.20 $-0.06
Cash & equivalents $91.76M $157.00M $1.10M
Total debt – $2.77B –
Shares (diluted) 65.99M 48.13M 34.87M
Enterprise value $1.24B $16.81B $10.45M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricOUSTZBRAREFR
P/E -36.8x 34.0x -7.0x
P/FCF -24.7x 20.1x -10.0x
P/Operating cash flow -37.8x 18.6x -10.1x
P/S 9.9x 3.1x 24.0x
P/B 5.5x 5.3x 14.0x
P/Tangible book 6.0x 6.7x 14.0x
EV/EBITDA -33.8x 19.4x -6.4x
EV/EBIT -28.3x 24.2x -6.4x
EV/Revenue 8.7x 3.6x 22.3x
EV/FCF -21.5x 23.0x -9.3x
EV/Operating cash flow -33.0x 21.2x -9.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.65 -9.00 -4.98

Growth

14 metrics
MetricOUSTZBRAREFR
Revenue growth (1Y) 62.8% 12.7% -46.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 51.6% 2.1% -2.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 90.8% 14.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 166.5% 4.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 39.7% 8.1% -19.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 45.1% -0.9% 0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 42.0% -1.6% -28.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 48.0% -6.1% 0.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 52.1% 4.8% -23.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 56.5% -3.8% 1.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -329.9% 5.8% -67.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.6% 63.5% 12.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -416.3% 6.0% -67.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.7% 83.6% 12.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricOUSTZBRAREFR
Gross margin 49.6% 49.6% –
EBITDA margin -25.6% 18.3% -347.1%
Operating margin -30.6% 14.7% -348.1%
Pretax margin -25.5% 12.1% -348.1%
Net margin -26.0% 9.2% -343.9%
FCF margin -40.2% 15.5% -238.6%
Operating cash flow margin -26.3% 16.7% -238.6%
Return on equity -16.5% 15.6% -156.7%
Return on assets -12.5% 6.4% -82.0%
Return on invested capital – 10.6% –
Return on capital employed -18.1% 19.1% -96.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.8x 0.7x
Stock comp / revenue 18.5% 3.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricOUSTZBRAREFR
Debt / assets – 32.0% –
Debt / equity – 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.4x –
Debt / FCF – 3.1x –
Liabilities / assets 21.8% 60.2% 54.6%
Equity / assets 78.2% 39.8% 45.4%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 4.2x 0.5x 3.5x
Quick ratio 3.5x 0.3x 3.2x
Cash ratio 3.1x 0.0x 2.7x
Altman Z-score 9.48 3.75 -68.15

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricOUSTZBRAREFR
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -6.9% 5.0% -8.8%
Shareholder yield -6.9% 5.0% -8.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusOUSTZBRAREFR
Forward P/E – 17.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.27FY2026 $22.59FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY – +42.6%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – -4.5% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $229.51MFY2026 $6.35BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +35.5%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +36.6% +1.2% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersOUSTZBRAREFR
Held by institutions 53.9% 100.0% 10.5%
Institutions holding 330 644 34
Change in shares held, QoQ +19.0% +4.5% -3.9%
Institutions buying 233 309 10
Institutions selling 66 242 8
Buyers to sellers 3.53 1.28 1.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

OUSTZBRAREFR
OUST 1.00 0.36 0.15
ZBRA 0.36 1.00 0.07
REFR 0.15 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, OUST, ZBRA and REFR?

Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ouster (OUST) $2.13B, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) $18.26B, Research Frontiers (REFR) $14.64M.

Which company is growing faster?

Ouster (OUST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ouster (OUST) +62.8%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) +12.7%, Research Frontiers (REFR) -46.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) has the highest net margin (Ouster (OUST) -26.0%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 9.2%, Research Frontiers (REFR) -343.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) returned the most: Ouster (OUST) -17.0%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) +24.4%, Research Frontiers (REFR) -77.5%. Over five years, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) compounded fastest (Ouster (OUST) -14.4%/yr, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) -5.8%/yr, Research Frontiers (REFR) -27.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) has been the steadiest (Ouster (OUST) 102.2%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 47.3%, Research Frontiers (REFR) 95.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, OUST, ZBRA and REFR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.