Critical Comparison: Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) versus Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC)

Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) and Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Sphere 3D and Atlanticus, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sphere 3D	1	0	0	0	1.00
Atlanticus	0	1	4	1	3.00

Atlanticus has a consensus target price of $101.67, indicating a potential upside of 14.52%. Given Atlanticus’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Atlanticus is more favorable than Sphere 3D.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sphere 3D	-163.45%	-78.14%	-73.36%
Atlanticus	5.86%	23.43%	2.17%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.3% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.2% of Atlanticus shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 51.0% of Atlanticus shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sphere 3D and Atlanticus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sphere 3D	$11.18 million	1.18	-$21.48 million	($3.48)	-0.89
Atlanticus	$1.97 billion	0.68	$122.20 million	$6.70	13.25

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

Risk and Volatility

Sphere 3D has a beta of 3.63, meaning that its stock price is 263% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlanticus has a beta of 2.14, meaning that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Atlanticus beats Sphere 3D on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company, provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers, healthcare providers, and other service providers. This segment also offers loan servicing, such as risk management and customer service outsourcing for third parties; and engages in testing and investment activities in consumer finance technology platforms. The Auto Finance segment purchases and/or services loans secured by automobiles from or for a pre-qualified network of independent automotive dealers and automotive finance companies in the buy-here, pay-here, and used car business. This segment also provides floor plan financing and installment lending products. It also invests in and services portfolios of credit card receivables. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.