Head to Head Analysis: MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) versus Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Upstart and MARA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upstart	2	7	5	0	2.21
MARA	0	6	4	0	2.40

Upstart currently has a consensus target price of $73.38, indicating a potential upside of 22.45%. MARA has a consensus target price of $23.78, indicating a potential upside of 57.26%. Given MARA’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe MARA is more favorable than Upstart.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Upstart and MARA”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upstart	$628.83 million	8.93	-$128.58 million	($1.46)	-41.05
MARA	$656.38 million	7.82	$261.17 million	$1.36	11.12

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

Volatility and Risk

Upstart has a beta of 2.25, indicating that its share price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MARA has a beta of 5.76, indicating that its share price is 476% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Upstart and MARA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upstart	-20.20%	-25.87%	-7.95%
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.0% of Upstart shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of MARA shares are held by institutional investors. 18.1% of Upstart shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of MARA shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

MARA beats Upstart on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions. Upstart Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc. in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.