Financial Contrast: The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) vs. NU (NYSE:NU)

NU (NYSE:NU) and The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for NU and The9, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NU	1	4	5	0	2.40
The9	0	0	0	0	0.00

NU currently has a consensus price target of $15.47, suggesting a potential upside of 33.16%. Given NU’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe NU is more favorable than The9.

Risk and Volatility

NU has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The9 has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NU and The9’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NU	17.12%	30.99%	4.82%
The9	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

84.0% of NU shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.5% of The9 shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of NU shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 30.8% of The9 shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NU and The9″s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NU	$8.27 billion	6.69	$1.03 billion	$0.40	29.04
The9	$176.49 million	0.63	$2.82 million	N/A	N/A

NU has higher revenue and earnings than The9.

Summary

NU beats The9 on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NU

Nu Holdings Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of digital banking services. The company was founded by David Vélez Osorno, Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira, and Adam Edward Wible on February 26, 2016 and is headquartered in George Town, Cayman Islands.

About The9

The9 Limited operates as a cryptocurrency mining business in China, Eastern Europe, Asia, and North America. The company was formerly known as GameNow.net Limited and changed its name to The9 Limited in February 2004. The9 Limited was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.