Reviewing Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) and Fold (NASDAQ:FLD)

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) and Fold (NASDAQ:FLD) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Axos Financial and Fold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Axos Financial	$1.95 billion	2.85	$432.91 million	$8.23	11.83
Fold	$31.79 million	0.72	-$69.59 million	($1.07)	-0.42

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Axos Financial and Fold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Axos Financial	0	2	4	1	2.86
Fold	1	0	2	0	2.33

Axos Financial presently has a consensus target price of $109.40, indicating a potential upside of 12.34%. Fold has a consensus target price of $2.73, indicating a potential upside of 502.99%. Given Fold’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fold is more favorable than Axos Financial.

Volatility & Risk

Axos Financial has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fold has a beta of 0.26, meaning that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.8% of Axos Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.9% of Fold shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Axos Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Fold shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Axos Financial and Fold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Axos Financial	22.53%	16.48%	1.72%
Fold	-164.63%	-90.99%	-42.50%

Summary

Axos Financial beats Fold on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Axos Financial

Axos Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts. It also provides residential single family, multifamily, and commercial mortgage loans; commercial real estate secured loans; commercial and industrial non-real estate, asset-backed, lines of credit, and term loans; automobile loans; fixed rate unsecured loans; and other loans, such as structure settlements, small business administration consumer loans, and securities-backed loans. In addition, the company offers ACH origination, wire transfer, commercial check printing, business bill pay and account transfer; remote deposit capture, mobile deposit, lockbox, merchant, and online payment portal; concierge banking; mobile and text message banking; and payment services, as well as debit and credit cards, and digital wallets. Further, it provides disclosed clearing services; back-office services, such as record keeping, trade reporting, accounting, general back-office support, securities and margin lending, reorganization assistance, and custody of securities; and financing to brokerage customers. The company was formerly known as BofI Holding, Inc. and changed its name to Axos Financial, Inc. in September 2018. Axos Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Fold

FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, and similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets operating in the clean/renewable energy, water sustainability, agricultural technology, shared economy software, and mobility sectors. The company was formerly known as Emerald ESG Acquisition Corp. FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.