TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) Financial Analysis

American Express (NYSE:AXP) and TeraWulf (NASDAQ:WULF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

American Express has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TeraWulf has a beta of 3.67, suggesting that its share price is 267% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.3% of American Express shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of TeraWulf shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Express shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.9% of TeraWulf shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares American Express and TeraWulf’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Express	15.00%	33.49%	3.69%
TeraWulf	-392.64%	-131.48%	-8.64%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for American Express and TeraWulf, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Express	1	13	9	0	2.35
TeraWulf	1	1	13	0	2.80

American Express currently has a consensus target price of $352.95, indicating a potential upside of 20.71%. TeraWulf has a consensus target price of $21.29, indicating a potential upside of 42.95%. Given TeraWulf’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe TeraWulf is more favorable than American Express.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Express and TeraWulf”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Express	$72.23 billion	2.78	$10.83 billion	$15.39	19.00
TeraWulf	$168.46 million	37.48	-$661.42 million	($1.63)	-9.13

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

Summary

American Express beats TeraWulf on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. The company’s products and services include credit card, charge card, banking, and other payment and financing products; network services; expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. It also provides merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, point-of-sale marketing, and information products and services for merchants; and fraud prevention services, as well as the design and operation of customer loyalty programs. In addition, the company operates lounges at airports under Centurion Lounge brand name. It sells its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, affiliate marketing, customer referral programs, third-party service providers and business partners, direct mail, telephone, in-house sales teams, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About TeraWulf

TeraWulf Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital asset technology company in the United States. The company develops, owns, and operates bitcoin mining facilities in New York and Pennsylvania. It is also involved in the provision of miner hosting services to third-party entities. The company was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Easton, Maryland.