Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc ASTI

Competitive advantage analysis · technology

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
10/100
Weak

About Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a solar technology company, engages in the manufacture and sale of photovoltaic solar modules in the United States. The company's technology provides renewable power solutions to high-value production and specialty solar markets, including space power beaming, aerospace, satellites, near earth orbiting vehicles, fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles, and agrivoltaics. It markets and sells its products through … Full ASTI analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Liquidity Buffer Liquidity position is strong (score 0.64), providing operational cushion.

Key risks

  • Commodity Pressure / Weak Differentiation Gross margin at 9.1th percentile with high volatility suggests weak pricing power or commoditized products.
  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 4.8th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Weak
7

Where ASTI ranks in Solar

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc ranks #23 of 28 scored companies in Solar by moat score — the top 82%. The widest moat in the group is First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) at 89/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near ASTI in Solar
# Company Moat score Rating
19 Solarmax Technology Inc. SMXT 35/100 Developing
20 Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. MAXN 33/100 Developing
21 Beam Global BEEM 31/100 Developing
22 VivoPower International PLC VVPR 22/100 Weak
23 Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc ASTI 10/100 Weak
24 Complete Solaria, Inc. CSLR 0/100 Weak
25 Sunnova Energy International In NOVA 0/100 Weak
26 Emeren Group Ltd SOL 0/100 Weak
27 Vast Renewables Limited VSTE 0/100 Weak

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How ASTI scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 7 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 10 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 9 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 3 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 26 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 9 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding ASTI's moat

What is Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc's moat score?

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc (ASTI) scores 10 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as weak. It ranks #23 of 28 scored companies in Solar, the top 82%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 27 companies in Solar. Its strongest defense is Resilience (26/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (3/100).

How does Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc compare with other Solar companies?

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc ranks #23 of 28 scored companies in Solar by moat score. The widest moat in Solar is First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) at 89/100. The companies ranked closest are VivoPower International PLC (VVPR) at 22 just above it and Complete Solaria, Inc. (CSLR) at 0 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 27 companies in Solar. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ASTI scores: Pricing Power (7), Cost Advantage (10), Customer Stickiness (9), Capital Efficiency (3), Resilience (26), Scale & Market Position (9). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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