Gentex manufactures auto-dimming rear- and side-view mirrors that use electrochromic technology. These mirrors automatically darken to eliminate headlight glare for drivers and have many other applications. With over 2,200 patents worldwide, some valid through 2048, and nearly 90% market share, up from 77% in 2003, Gentex has a narrow economic moat it should be able to protect for a long time, in our opinion.
Auto-dimming technology has applications to other parts of the car like headlights, as well as airplane windows and healthcare. Although small now, markets outside the auto industry could prove to be very large businesses down the road.
Cameras could replace Gentex's mirrors, if regulators throughout the world allowed it. We don't think this is a likely threat, at least not anytime in the near future in very large volume.
|
Metric
|
GNTX
|
MGA
|
APTV
|
|---|---|---|---|
Price/Earnings (Normalized) | 18.25 | 9.03 | 14.26 |
Price/Book Value | 3.36 | 1.18 | 1.67 |
Price/Sales | 3.36 | 0.33 | 0.98 |
Price/Cash Flow | 14.04 | 4.77 | 8.76 |
|
Metric
|
GNTX
|
MGA
|
APTV
|
|---|---|---|---|
Quick Ratio | 2.07 | 0.69 | 1.15 |
Current Ratio | 3.67 | 1.06 | 1.72 |
Interest Coverage | — | 7.28 | 5.30 |
|
Metric
|
GNTX
|
MGA
|
APTV
|
|---|---|---|---|
Return on Assets (Normalized) | 18.80% | 5.10% | 14.60% |
Return on Equity (Normalized) | 21.28% | 13.89% | 33.67% |
Return on Invested Capital (Normalized) | 21.28% | 9.21% | 20.44% |
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Ticker
|
Name
|
Morningstar Rating for Stocks
|
Capital Allocation
|
Economic Moat
|
Market Cap
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DNZOY
| Denso Corp ADR | — | Dqktgvs | $54.2 Bil | |
APTV
| Aptiv PLC | Fgwlrvcr | Cgxsl | $18.9 Bil | |
MGA
| Magna International Inc | Ffjfrsg | Mvvt | $13.7 Bil | |
LKQ
| LKQ Corp | Khyjvht | Qntrkb | $13.0 Bil | |
ALV
| Autoliv Inc | Jmbsmvvk | Fypzz | $9.4 Bil | |
LEA
| Lear Corp | Frsqbttww | Cwtkxs | $7.4 Bil | |
BWA
| BorgWarner Inc | Bknrqlhnl | Sfklslt | $7.4 Bil | |
ALSN
| Allison Transmission Holdings Inc | Sgcnrpg | Kwxvjd | $7.0 Bil | |
ADNT
| Adient PLC | Zdwqfpfm | Wsvtxxg | $2.6 Bil |
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