Critical Analysis: Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) versus MARA (NASDAQ:MARA)

Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Green Dot	$1.50 billion	0.39	$6.72 million	($1.05)	-10.35
MARA	$564.95 million	10.84	$261.17 million	$0.79	26.32

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.6% of Green Dot shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of MARA shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Green Dot shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of MARA 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.

Risk & Volatility

Green Dot has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MARA has a beta of 5.52, indicating that its share price is 452% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Green Dot	-3.39%	3.84%	0.65%
MARA	27.48%	-8.98%	-7.50%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Green Dot and MARA, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Green Dot	1	2	1	0	2.00
MARA	1	3	4	0	2.38

Green Dot currently has a consensus target price of $10.75, indicating a potential downside of 1.10%. MARA has a consensus target price of $21.57, indicating a potential upside of 3.76%. Given MARA’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MARA is more favorable than Green Dot.

Summary

MARA beats Green Dot on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Corporation, a financial technology and registered bank holding company, provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer Services, Business to Business Services, and Money Movement Services. The company provides deposit account programs, including consumer and small business checking account products, network-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards and gift cards, and secured credit programs. It offers money processing services, such as cash transfer services that enable consumers to deposit or pick up cash and pay bills with cash at the point-of-sale at any participating retailer; and simply paid disbursement services, which enable wages and authorized funds disbursement to its deposit account programs and accounts issued by any third-party bank or program manager. In addition, the company offers tax processing services comprising tax refund transfers, which provide the processing technology to facilitate receipt of a taxpayers' refund proceeds; small business lending to independent tax preparation providers that seek small advances; and fast cash advance, a loan that enables tax refund recipients. Green Dot Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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.