Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) & Runway Growth Finance (NASDAQ:RWAY) Critical Comparison

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

Profitability

This table compares Sphere 3D and Runway Growth Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sphere 3D	-50.87%	-49.54%	-34.72%
Runway Growth Finance	27.05%	12.91%	6.33%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sphere 3D and Runway Growth Finance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sphere 3D	$21.66 million	1.25	-$23.41 million	($0.80)	-1.39
Runway Growth Finance	$53.67 million	7.66	$44.34 million	$1.04	10.59

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

Volatility & Risk

Sphere 3D has a beta of 2.99, indicating that its stock price is 199% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Runway Growth Finance has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Sphere 3D and Runway Growth Finance, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sphere 3D	0	0	1	0	3.00
Runway Growth Finance	0	5	3	0	2.38

Sphere 3D currently has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 170.27%. Runway Growth Finance has a consensus price target of $11.96, suggesting a potential upside of 8.61%. Given Sphere 3D’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sphere 3D is more favorable than Runway Growth Finance.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.3% of Sphere 3D shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.6% of Runway Growth Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Sphere 3D shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Runway Growth Finance 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

Runway Growth Finance beats Sphere 3D on 10 of the 14 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 Runway Growth Finance

Runway Growth Finance Corp. is a business development company specializing investments in senior-secured loans to late stage and growth companies. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the technology, life sciences, healthcare and information services, business services and select consumer services and products sectors. It prefers to investments in companies engaged in electronic equipment and instruments, systems software, hardware, storage and peripherals and specialized consumer services, application software, healthcare technology, internet software and services, data processing and outsourced services, internet retail, human resources and employment services, biotechnology, healthcare equipment and education services. It invests in senior secured loans between $10 million and $75 million.