Analyzing HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ:HIVE) and X Financial (NYSE:XYF)

X Financial (NYSE:XYF) and HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ:HIVE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.2% of X Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of HIVE Digital Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 31.6% of X Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of HIVE Digital Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

X Financial has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HIVE Digital Technologies has a beta of 3.48, suggesting that its share price is 248% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for X Financial and HIVE Digital Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A
HIVE Digital Technologies	0	0	4	0	3.00

HIVE Digital Technologies has a consensus target price of $5.75, suggesting a potential upside of 122.87%. Given HIVE Digital Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HIVE Digital Technologies is more favorable than X Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares X Financial and HIVE Digital Technologies’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
X Financial	$678.16 million	0.34	$167.16 million	$3.54	1.34
HIVE Digital Technologies	$123.14 million	2.47	-$51.21 million	($0.59)	-4.37

X Financial has higher revenue and earnings than HIVE Digital Technologies. HIVE Digital Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than X Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares X Financial and HIVE Digital Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X Financial	25.38%	20.63%	10.74%
HIVE Digital Technologies	-25.74%	-20.88%	-16.97%

Summary

X Financial beats HIVE Digital Technologies on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About X Financial

X Financial provides personal finance services in the People’s Republic of China. The company offers services as an online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors or institutional funding partners. Its loan products include Xiaoying credit loan, which consists of Xiaoying card loan; and Xiaoying preferred loan to small business owners. The company also offers Xiaoying housing loan, a home equity loan product for property owners; investment products through Xiaoying wealth management platform, such as funds, money market, and insurance products; and loan facilitation services to other platforms. In addition, it engages in the technology development, service, and sale of products; and provision of guarantee and consulting services. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People’s Republic of China.

About HIVE Digital Technologies

HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. operates as a cryptocurrency mining company in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland. The company engages in the mining and sale of digital currencies, including Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin, and other coins. It also operates data centers; and offers infrastructure solutions. The company was formerly known as HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. and changed its name to HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. in July 2023. HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.