Reviewing Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA)

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) and Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) are both mid-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.5% of MARA shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of Upstart shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of MARA shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.1% of Upstart shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MARA and Upstart”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MARA	$656.38 million	7.82	$261.17 million	$1.36	11.12
Upstart	$628.83 million	8.93	-$128.58 million	($1.46)	-41.05

MARA has higher revenue and earnings than Upstart. Upstart is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MARA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for MARA and Upstart, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MARA	0	6	4	0	2.40
Upstart	2	7	5	0	2.21

MARA currently has a consensus price target of $23.78, suggesting a potential upside of 57.26%. Upstart has a consensus price target of $73.38, suggesting a potential upside of 22.45%. Given MARA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe MARA is more favorable than Upstart.

Profitability

This table compares MARA and Upstart’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%
Upstart	-20.20%	-25.87%	-7.95%

Risk and Volatility

MARA has a beta of 5.76, indicating that its share price is 476% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upstart has a beta of 2.25, indicating that its share price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MARA beats Upstart on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc. in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions. Upstart Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.