Comparing Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND)

Blend Labs (NYSE:BLND) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Blend Labs and Alphabet, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blend Labs	0	1	5	0	2.83
Alphabet	0	8	29	3	2.88

Blend Labs currently has a consensus target price of $3.93, indicating a potential upside of 9.17%. Alphabet has a consensus target price of $201.76, indicating a potential upside of 23.46%. Given Alphabet’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alphabet is more favorable than Blend Labs.

Risk & Volatility

Blend Labs has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphabet has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Blend Labs and Alphabet”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blend Labs	$152.12 million	5.97	-$178.69 million	($0.58)	-6.21
Alphabet	$328.28 billion	6.15	$73.80 billion	$6.52	25.06

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.6% of Blend Labs shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.0% of Alphabet shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.8% of Blend Labs shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of Alphabet shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Blend Labs and Alphabet’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blend Labs	-77.63%	N/A	-40.93%
Alphabet	26.70%	30.49%	21.63%

Summary

Alphabet beats Blend Labs on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blend Labs

Blend Labs, Inc. engages in the provision of cloud-based software platform solutions for financial services firms in the United States. It operates in two segments, Blend Platform and Title365. The company's Blend Builder Platform offers a suite of products that powers digital-first consumer journeys for mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, vehicle loans, personal loans, credit cards, and deposit accounts; and offers mortgage products to facilitate the homeownership journey for consumers comprising close, income verification for mortgage, homeowners' insurance, and realty. It also offers verification components to automate confirmation tasks that are needed to underwrite a loan or approve the opening of a new deposit account; decisioning components to reduce the need for human intervention by automatically applying business rules throughout an application workflow configured by a financial services firm; workflow intelligence components to manage data collection and automate tasks throughout the loan origination process; and marketplace components to enable consumers to shop for products and services presented at the precise moment of need during an application for a loan. In addition, the company, through its subsidiary, offers title search procedures for title insurance policies, escrow, and other closing and settlement services, as well as other trustee services; and provides professional and consulting services. It serves banks, credit unions, fintechs, and non-bank mortgage lenders. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. It is also involved in the sale of apps and in-app purchases and digital content in the Google Play and YouTube; and devices, as well as in the provision of YouTube consumer subscription services. The Google Cloud segment offers infrastructure, cybersecurity, databases, analytics, AI, and other services; Google Workspace that include cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Meet; and other services for enterprise customers. The Other Bets segment sells healthcare-related and internet services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.