Reviewing Qudian (NYSE:QD) and TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF)

TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) and Qudian (NYSE:QD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.5% of TeraWulf shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.1% of Qudian shares are held by institutional investors. 24.9% of TeraWulf shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.7% of Qudian shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for TeraWulf and Qudian, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TeraWulf	0	0	8	1	3.11
Qudian	0	0	0	0	N/A

TeraWulf currently has a consensus price target of $5.71, suggesting a potential upside of 34.77%. Given TeraWulf’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe TeraWulf is more favorable than Qudian.

Profitability

This table compares TeraWulf and Qudian’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TeraWulf	-41.67%	-19.77%	-12.61%
Qudian	-134.42%	-2.33%	-2.18%

Volatility & Risk

TeraWulf has a beta of 2.55, meaning that its share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qudian has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TeraWulf and Qudian’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TeraWulf	$69.23 million	23.43	-$73.42 million	N/A	N/A
Qudian	$17.79 million	20.75	$5.51 million	($0.30)	-6.13

Qudian has lower revenue, but higher earnings than TeraWulf.

Summary

TeraWulf beats Qudian on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TeraWulf

TeraWulf Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital asset technology company in the United States. The company develops, owns, and operates bitcoin mining facilities in New York and Pennsylvania. It is also involved in the provision of miner hosting services to third-party entities. The company was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Easton, Maryland.

About Qudian

Qudian Inc. operates as a consumer-oriented technology company in the People's Republic of China. The company engages in the operation of online platforms to provide small consumer credit products. It also provides technology development and services; research and development services; and delivery services. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Xiamen, the People's Republic of China.