Analyzing Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) & Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ)

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) and Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Walker & Dunlop and Core Scientific, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Walker & Dunlop	0	2	0	1	2.67
Core Scientific	0	0	13	1	3.07

Walker & Dunlop currently has a consensus price target of $111.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.46%. Core Scientific has a consensus price target of $18.46, suggesting a potential upside of 23.08%. Given Core Scientific’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Core Scientific is more favorable than Walker & Dunlop.

Profitability

This table compares Walker & Dunlop and Core Scientific’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Walker & Dunlop	8.91%	9.81%	4.11%
Core Scientific	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Walker & Dunlop shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Walker & Dunlop and Core Scientific”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Walker & Dunlop	$1.07 billion	3.02	$107.36 million	$2.80	34.04
Core Scientific	$502.40 million	8.34	-$1.51 billion	($5.41)	-2.77

Walker & Dunlop has higher revenue and earnings than Core Scientific. Core Scientific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walker & Dunlop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Walker & Dunlop beats Core Scientific on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc., through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. It operates through three segments: Capital Markets, Servicing & Asset Management, and Corporate. The company offers first mortgage, second trust, supplemental, construction, mezzanine, preferred equity, and small-balance loans. It also provides finance for multifamily, manufactured housing communities, student housing, affordable housing, and senior housing properties under the Fannie Mae's DUS program; and construction and permanent loans to developers and owners of multifamily housing, affordable housing, senior housing, and healthcare facilities. In addition, the company acts as a debt broker to work with life insurance companies, banks, and other institutional lenders to find debt and/or equity solution for the borrowers' needs; and offers property sales brokerage services to owners and developers of multifamily properties, and commercial real estate and multifamily property appraisals for various investors. Further, it provides multifamily appraisal and valuation services; and real estate-related investment banking and advisory services, including housing market research. Additionally, the company offers servicing and asset-managing the portfolio of loans; originates loans through its principal lending and investing activities; and manages third-party capital invested in tax credit equity funds focused on the LIHTC sector and other commercial real estate sectors. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

About Core Scientific

Core Scientific, Inc. provides digital asset mining services in North America. It operates through two segments, Mining and Hosting. The company offers blockchain infrastructure, software solutions, and services; and operates data center mining facilities. It also mines digital assets for its own account; and provides hosting services for other large bitcoin miners, which include deployment, monitoring, trouble shooting, optimization, and maintenance of its customers' digital asset mining equipment. In addition, the company provides electrical power, repair, and other infrastructure services to operate, maintain, and earn digital assets; and sells mining equipment to customers. Core Scientific, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Dover, Delaware.