Critical Analysis: Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) & Lazard (NYSE:LAZ)

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

68.8% of Coinbase Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of Lazard shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.4% of Coinbase Global shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Lazard shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Coinbase Global and Lazard”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coinbase Global	$6.56 billion	11.98	$2.58 billion	$10.34	29.59
Lazard	$3.05 billion	2.10	$279.91 million	$2.90	19.61

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Coinbase Global and Lazard, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coinbase Global	2	10	13	0	2.44
Lazard	2	3	3	0	2.13

Coinbase Global currently has a consensus target price of $352.7208, indicating a potential upside of 15.27%. Lazard has a consensus target price of $52.3333, indicating a potential downside of 7.96%. Given Coinbase Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Coinbase Global is more favorable than Lazard.

Profitability

This table compares Coinbase Global and Lazard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coinbase Global	40.87%	16.02%	1.86%
Lazard	9.96%	34.33%	5.24%

Risk and Volatility

Coinbase Global has a beta of 3.7, indicating that its stock price is 270% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lazard has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Coinbase Global beats Lazard on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coinbase Global

Coinbase Global, Inc. provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy in the United States and internationally. The company offers the primary financial account in the crypto economy for consumers; and a marketplace with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets for institutions. It also provides technology and services that enable developers to build crypto products and securely accept crypto assets as payment. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services. This segment offers its services to corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign, and individual clients to various industry areas, including consumers, financial institutions, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, power and energy/infrastructure, real estate, technology, telecommunication, and media and entertainment. The Asset Management segment offers a range of investment solutions; investment and wealth management services in equity and fixed income strategies; asset allocation strategies; and alternative investments and private equity funds to corporations, public funds, sovereign entities, endowments and foundations, labor funds, financial intermediaries, and private clients. Lazard, Inc. was incorporated in 1848 and is headquartered in New York, New York.