Critical Contrast: Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) versus Hargreaves Lansdown (OTCMKTS:HRGLY)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hargreaves Lansdown	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sphere 3D	-50.87%	-49.54%	-34.72%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Hargreaves Lansdown and Sphere 3D, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hargreaves Lansdown	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sphere 3D	0	0	1	0	3.00

Sphere 3D has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 212.17%. Given Sphere 3D’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sphere 3D is more favorable than Hargreaves Lansdown.

Volatility and Risk

Hargreaves Lansdown has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Sphere 3D has a beta of 2.91, indicating that its share price is 191% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hargreaves Lansdown	$776.11 million	N/A	$287.92 million	N/A	N/A
Sphere 3D	$21.66 million	1.08	-$23.41 million	($0.80)	-1.20

Hargreaves Lansdown has higher revenue and earnings than Sphere 3D.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.3% of Sphere 3D shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Sphere 3D shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Sphere 3D beats Hargreaves Lansdown on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown plc provides investment services for individuals and corporates in the United Kingdom and Poland. The company offers stocks and shares individual savings accounts (ISAs), fund and share accounts, and junior and lifetime ISAs. It also provides pension services, including self-invested personal pensions (SIPP), junior SIPPs, annuities, and drawdown; share dealing services; and fund dealing services. In addition, the company offers investment accounts; cash savings; accounts for children; and foreign currency exchange, retirement, and financial advisory services. Hargreaves Lansdown plc was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

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.