Critical Analysis: SOS (NYSE:SOS) versus Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN)

SOS (NYSE:SOS) and Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SOS 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
SOS	$260.03 million	1.40	-$229.45 million	N/A	N/A
Iris Energy	$75.51 million	4.18	-$171.87 million	N/A	N/A

Iris Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SOS.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SOS	N/A	N/A	N/A
Iris Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility & Risk

SOS has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iris Energy has a beta of 3.05, indicating that its stock price is 205% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.9% of SOS shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of Iris Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of SOS shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Iris Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SOS and Iris Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SOS	0	0	0	0	N/A
Iris Energy	0	0	5	0	3.00

Iris Energy has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 153.70%. Given Iris Energy’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Iris Energy is more favorable than SOS.

Summary

Iris Energy beats SOS on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SOS

SOS Limited provides data mining and analysis services to corporate and individual members in the People's Republic of China. It provides marketing data, technology, and solutions for insurance companies; emergency rescue services; and insurance product and health care information portals. The company operates SOS cloud emergency rescue service software as a service platform that offers basic cloud products, such as medical rescue, auto rescue, financial rescue, and life rescue cards; cooperative cloud systems, including information rescue center, intelligent big data, and intelligent software and hardware; and information cloud systems, such as newsToday and E-commerce Today, 10086 hot-line center, information security services, and marketing-related data. It also focuses on cryptocurrency mining, blockchain-based insurance, and security management businesses. The company serves insurance companies, financial institutions, medical institutions, healthcare providers, and other service providers in the emergency rescue services industry. The company is based in Qingdao, the People's Republic of China.

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.