Head to Head Review: American Express (NYSE:AXP) vs. Soluna (NASDAQ:SLNH)

Soluna (NASDAQ:SLNH) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Soluna and American Express’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Soluna	-75.30%	-45.29%	-24.41%
American Express	15.36%	32.65%	3.56%

Volatility & Risk

Soluna has a beta of 3, meaning that its stock price is 200% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Express has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

23.2% of Soluna shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.3% of American Express shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.3% of Soluna shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Express shares are owned 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Soluna and American Express”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Soluna	$21.07 million	0.66	-$29.20 million	($14.56)	-0.11
American Express	$65.95 billion	3.42	$10.13 billion	$14.01	22.86

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Soluna and American Express, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Soluna	0	0	0	0	0.00
American Express	3	12	9	0	2.25

American Express has a consensus price target of $296.38, suggesting a potential downside of 7.46%. Given American Express’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Express is more favorable than Soluna.

Summary

American Express beats Soluna on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Soluna

Soluna Holdings, Inc. together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining of cryptocurrency through data centers. It operates through two segments, Cryptocurrency Mining and Data Center Hosting. The company also operates in the blockchain business. In addition, the company develops and builds modular data centers that use for cryptocurrency mining. Further, it provides data center hosting services, including electrical power and network connectivity to cryptocurrency mining customers. The company was formerly known as Mechanical Technology Inc and as changed to Soluna Holdings, Inc. Soluna Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Albany, New York.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. The company’s products and services include credit card, charge card, banking, and other payment and financing products; network services; expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. It also provides merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, point-of-sale marketing, and information products and services for merchants; and fraud prevention services, as well as the design and operation of customer loyalty programs. In addition, the company operates lounges at airports under Centurion Lounge brand name. It sells its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, affiliate marketing, customer referral programs, third-party service providers and business partners, direct mail, telephone, in-house sales teams, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.