Reviewing Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) & Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR)

Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) and Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) are both mid-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Cipher Mining and Iris Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cipher Mining	0	0	10	2	3.17
Iris Energy	0	2	9	1	2.92

Cipher Mining presently has a consensus target price of $8.14, suggesting a potential upside of 34.31%. Iris Energy has a consensus target price of $20.70, suggesting a potential upside of 59.11%. Given Iris Energy’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Iris Energy is more favorable than Cipher Mining.

Volatility and Risk

Cipher Mining has a beta of 2.41, suggesting that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iris Energy has a beta of 3.6, suggesting that its stock price is 260% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

12.3% of Cipher Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.1% of Iris Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Cipher Mining shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.5% of Iris Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cipher Mining and Iris Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cipher Mining	-33.39%	-8.29%	-7.29%
Iris Energy	-36.10%	-8.01%	-7.37%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cipher Mining and Iris Energy”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cipher Mining	$152.47 million	13.82	-$25.78 million	($0.13)	-46.62
Iris Energy	$283.73 million	8.61	-$28.95 million	N/A	N/A

Cipher Mining has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Iris Energy.

Summary

Cipher Mining beats Iris Energy on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cipher Mining

Cipher Mining Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and operation of industrial scale bitcoin mining data centers in the United States. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York. Cipher Mining Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Bitfury Holding B.V.

About Iris Energy

Iris Energy Limited owns and operates bitcoin mining data centers. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.