Head-To-Head Analysis: NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) and Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD)

NerdWallet (NASDAQ:NRDS) and Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) are both companies in the finance sector, but they offer different services and have unique financial profiles. This article aims to compare these two stocks across several key metrics, including institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

Below is a table comparing the gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS), and valuation of NerdWallet and Applied Digital.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NerdWallet	$637.50 million	1.60	-$11.80 million	($0.14)	-99.43
Applied Digital	$165.57 million	12.26	-$149.27 million	($1.73)	-5.27

From the data, it's clear that NerdWallet generates significantly higher revenue compared to Applied Digital. Additionally, NerdWallet has a lower price-to-earnings ratio, suggesting that its shares may be more reasonably priced than those of Applied Digital.

Analyst Recommendations

Current ratings and recommendations for both companies, as reported by analysts, are summarized in the table below.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NerdWallet	0	1	4	0	2.80
Applied Digital	0	0	9	0	3.00

Analysts offer a consensus price target of $17.20 for NerdWallet, indicating a potential upside of 23.56%. In contrast, Applied Digital has a consensus price target of $12.11, which suggests a more attractive potential upside of 32.94%. Based on the stronger consensus rating and higher upside potential, analysts appear to favor Applied Digital over NerdWallet.

Volatility & Risk

In terms of price volatility, NerdWallet has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500 index. Applied Digital, however, has a much higher beta of 4.77, suggesting that its share price is 377% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

The measures of net margins, return on equity, and return on assets are displayed in the following table.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NerdWallet	-1.65%	-2.90%	-2.45%
Applied Digital	-127.86%	-117.67%	-27.84%

NerdWallet demonstrates better profitability metrics compared to Applied Digital, which is significantly less profitable and showcases concerning returns.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Institutional ownership is another aspect to consider, with 38.8% of NerdWallet's shares held by institutional investors, whereas Applied Digital has a higher institutional ownership of 65.7%. As for insider ownership, 45.9% of NerdWallet's shares are owned by company insiders, contrasting with only 11.8% for Applied Digital. Higher institutional ownership often suggests that investors believe in a company's long-term potential.

About NerdWallet

NerdWallet, Inc. is a digital platform focused on providing consumer-oriented advice regarding personal finance. It connects individuals and businesses with various financial product providers across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The company offers a range of services, including educational content, tools, calculators, and a mobile app for accessing financial products like credit cards and personal loans. Founded in 2009, NerdWallet is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation specializes in designing, developing, and operating data centers across North America. These facilities offer digital infrastructure solutions tailored to high-performance computing needs, including artificial intelligence cloud services and cryptocurrency hosting solutions. The company, previously known as Applied Blockchain, Inc., rebranded in November 2022 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

NerdWallet, AppliedDigital, Stock