Financial Contrast: Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) versus Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN)

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) and Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Synchrony Financial has a beta of 1.63, suggesting that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iris Energy has a beta of 3.54, suggesting that its share price is 254% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Synchrony Financial and Iris Energy”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Synchrony Financial	$20.71 billion	1.28	$2.24 billion	$7.66	8.89
Iris Energy	$208.75 million	11.80	-$28.95 million	N/A	N/A

Synchrony Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Iris Energy.

Profitability

This table compares Synchrony Financial and Iris Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Synchrony Financial	13.98%	16.64%	1.96%
Iris Energy	-36.10%	-8.01%	-7.37%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Synchrony Financial and Iris Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Synchrony Financial	1	6	14	1	2.68
Iris Energy	0	2	8	1	2.91

Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus price target of $61.53, suggesting a potential downside of 9.60%. Iris Energy has a consensus price target of $17.56, suggesting a potential upside of 33.91%. Given Iris Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Iris Energy is more favorable than Synchrony Financial.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.5% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of Iris Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Synchrony Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.5% of Iris Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Synchrony Financial beats Iris Energy on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms. In addition, it provides debt cancellation products to its credit card customers through online, mobile, and direct mail; and healthcare payments and financing solutions under the CareCredit and Walgreens brands; payments and financing solutions in the apparel, specialty retail, outdoor, music, and luxury industries, such as American Eagle, Dick's Sporting Goods, Guitar Center, Kawasaki, Pandora, Polaris, Suzuki, and Sweetwater. The company offers its credit products through programs established with a group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations, and healthcare service providers; and deposit products through various channels, such as digital and print. It serves digital, health and wellness, retail, home, auto, telecommunications, jewelry, pets, and other industries. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Iris Energy

Iris Energy Limited owns and operates bitcoin mining data centers. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.