Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) and Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) Head-To-Head Comparison

Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) and Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Iris Energy and Cipher Mining”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iris Energy	$208.75 million	9.20	-$28.95 million	N/A	N/A
Cipher Mining	$152.47 million	13.07	-$25.78 million	($0.13)	-44.08

Cipher Mining has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Iris Energy.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iris Energy	-36.10%	-8.01%	-7.37%
Cipher Mining	-33.39%	-8.29%	-7.29%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

41.1% of Iris Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.3% of Cipher Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.5% of Iris Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Cipher Mining shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Iris Energy has a beta of 3.62, indicating that its share price is 262% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cipher Mining has a beta of 2.38, indicating that its share price is 138% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Iris Energy and Cipher Mining, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iris Energy	0	2	9	1	2.92
Cipher Mining	0	0	10	2	3.17

Iris Energy currently has a consensus target price of $19.50, suggesting a potential upside of 90.80%. Cipher Mining has a consensus target price of $8.25, suggesting a potential upside of 43.98%. Given Iris Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Iris Energy is more favorable than Cipher Mining.

Summary

Cipher Mining beats Iris Energy on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Cipher Mining

Cipher Mining Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and operation of industrial scale bitcoin mining data centers in the United States. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Cipher Mining Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bitfury Holding B.V.