Head-To-Head Analysis: Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) vs. PPDAI Group (NYSE:FINV)

PPDAI Group (NYSE:FINV) and Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares PPDAI Group and Sphere 3D’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PPDAI Group	19.98%	18.33%	11.77%
Sphere 3D	-167.47%	-61.18%	-56.57%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

31.2% of PPDAI Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by institutional investors. 44.0% of PPDAI Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for PPDAI Group and Sphere 3D, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PPDAI Group	0	1	2	0	2.67
Sphere 3D	1	0	1	0	2.00

PPDAI Group currently has a consensus price target of $11.55, indicating a potential upside of 104.97%. Sphere 3D has a consensus price target of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 2,198.85%. Given Sphere 3D’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sphere 3D is more favorable than PPDAI Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PPDAI Group and Sphere 3D”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PPDAI Group	$1.79 billion	0.80	$326.49 million	$1.47	3.83
Sphere 3D	$16.61 million	0.27	-$9.47 million	($7.70)	-0.17

PPDAI Group has higher revenue and earnings than Sphere 3D. Sphere 3D is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PPDAI Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

PPDAI Group has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sphere 3D has a beta of 3.75, meaning that its share price is 275% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

PPDAI Group beats Sphere 3D on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PPDAI Group

FinVolution Group operates in the online consumer finance industry. The company operates a fintech platform that is empowered by borrowers with financial institutions. It operates in China and internationally. The company was formerly known as PPDAI Group Inc. and changed its name to FinVolution Group in November 2019. FinVolution Group was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. engages in the bitcoin mining business. It is involved with digital asset mining pool operators to provide computing power to the mining pools. The company is based in Stamford, Connecticut.