Critical Analysis: MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) versus Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT)

Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Hut 8 and MARA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hut 8	N/A	N/A	N/A
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Hut 8 and MARA, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hut 8	0	0	9	0	3.00
MARA	0	6	4	0	2.40

Hut 8 currently has a consensus price target of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 84.05%. MARA has a consensus price target of $25.67, suggesting a potential upside of 75.08%. Given Hut 8’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Hut 8 is more favorable than MARA.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hut 8 and MARA”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hut 8	$73.90 million	22.71	-$186.77 million	N/A	N/A
MARA	$598.75 million	8.31	$261.17 million	$0.79	18.56

MARA has higher revenue and earnings than Hut 8.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.8% of Hut 8 shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of MARA shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Hut 8 shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of MARA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Hut 8 has a beta of 4.31, indicating that its share price is 331% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MARA has a beta of 5.76, indicating that its share price is 476% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Hut 8 beats MARA on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hut 8

Hut 8 Corp., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, builds, manages, and operates data centers for digital assets mining, computing, and artificial intelligence in the United States. It operates in four segments: Digital Assets Mining, Managed Services, High Performance Computing Colocation and Cloud, and Other. The company mines Bitcoin. It also offers managed services for energy infrastructure development, such as site design, procurement, and construction management; software automation, process design, personnel hiring, and team training; utilities contracts, hosting operations, and customer management; energy portfolio optimization and strategic initiatives; and finance, accounting, and safety services for digital asset mining site owners, governments, and data center developers. In addition, the company provides colocation, cloud, and connectivity services; hosting services, which include the provision of mining equipment and space, as well as monitors, troubleshoots, repairs, and maintains customer mining equipment; and equipment sales and repair services. Hut 8 Corp. was founded in 2017 and is based in Miami, Florida.

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.