Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) versus X Financial (NYSE:XYF) Critical Review

X Financial (NYSE:XYF) and Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.2% of X Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.6% of X Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares X Financial and Circle Internet Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
X Financial	$804.43 million	0.67	$210.97 million	$5.34	2.42
Circle Internet Group	$2.12 billion	15.36	N/A	N/A	N/A

X Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Circle Internet Group.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for X Financial and Circle Internet Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X Financial	0	0	1	0	3.00
Circle Internet Group	4	10	6	1	2.19

Circle Internet Group has a consensus target price of $165.43, indicating a potential upside of 16.67%. Given Circle Internet Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Circle Internet Group is more favorable than X Financial.

Profitability

This table compares X Financial and Circle Internet Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X Financial	23.30%	25.42%	14.98%
Circle Internet Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

X Financial beats Circle Internet Group on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About X Financial

X Financial provides personal finance services in the People’s Republic of China. The company offers services as an online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors or institutional funding partners. Its loan products include Xiaoying credit loan, which consists of Xiaoying card loan; and Xiaoying preferred loan to small business owners. The company also offers Xiaoying housing loan, a home equity loan product for property owners; investment products through Xiaoying wealth management platform, such as funds, money market, and insurance products; and loan facilitation services to other platforms. In addition, it engages in the technology development, service, and sale of products; and provision of guarantee and consulting services. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People’s Republic of China.

About Circle Internet Group

Founded in 2013, Circle’s mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. We intend to connect the world more deeply by building a new global economic system on the foundation of the internet, and to facilitate the creation of a world where everyone, everywhere can share value as easily as we can today share information, content, and communications. Since inception, we have relentlessly pursued our mission and vision, building fundamental technology for the internet financial system. We have forged paths toward mainstream acceptance through persistent and active engagement with policymakers and regulators globally, and have seen institutional and consumer knowledge and acceptance of internet-native financial assets approach critical mass. Large and influential players in the incumbent financial services system are increasingly embracing digital assets broadly and stablecoins specifically. Circle’s innovative products reach tens of millions of end-users, power thousands of businesses, and, as of March 31, 2025, USDC has been used for more than $25 trillion in onchain transactions. While we have made strong progress in our pursuit of our mission and vision over the past decade, we believe the internet financial system is in its infancy with decades of growth and innovation ahead. Our principal executive office is located in New York, NY.