Sprott (NYSE:SII) vs. Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) Critical Contrast

Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) and Sprott (NYSE:SII) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.3% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.3% of Sprott shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of Sphere 3D shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of Sprott shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sphere 3D and Sprott”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sphere 3D	$21.66 million	1.19	-$23.41 million	($0.80)	-1.51
Sprott	$167.12 million	6.66	$41.80 million	$1.82	23.68

Sprott has higher revenue and earnings than Sphere 3D. Sphere 3D is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sprott, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Sphere 3D has a beta of 2.91, suggesting that its stock price is 191% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sprott has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Sphere 3D and Sprott, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sphere 3D	0	0	1	0	3.00
Sprott	0	0	0	1	4.00

Sphere 3D currently has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 147.93%. Given Sphere 3D’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Sphere 3D is more favorable than Sprott.

Profitability

This table compares Sphere 3D and Sprott’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sphere 3D	-50.87%	-49.54%	-34.72%
Sprott	27.38%	15.02%	11.91%

Summary

Sprott beats Sphere 3D on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. engages in the bitcoin mining business. It is involved with digital asset mining pool operators to provide computing power to the mining pools. The company is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

About Sprott

Sprott Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides asset management, portfolio management, wealth management, fund management, and administrative and consulting services to its clients. It offers mutual funds, hedge funds, and offshore funds, along with managed accounts. Further, the firm also provides broker-dealer activities. Sprott Inc. was formed on February 13, 2008 and is based in Toronto, Canada.