Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN) versus Aterian (NASDAQ:ATER) Head to Head Contrast

Aterian (NASDAQ:ATER) and Qfin (NASDAQ:QFIN) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Aterian has a beta of 0.04, indicating that its share price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qfin has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Aterian and Qfin, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aterian	1	1	0	0	1.50
Qfin	2	1	1	0	1.75

Qfin has a consensus price target of $22.20, indicating a potential upside of 57.11%. Given Qfin’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Qfin is more favorable than Aterian.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.0% of Aterian shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.8% of Qfin shares are held by institutional investors. 19.5% of Aterian shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of Qfin shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aterian and Qfin”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aterian	$68.97 million	0.11	-$18.98 million	($2.40)	-0.30
Qfin	$2.75 billion	0.73	$856.52 million	$6.16	2.29

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

Profitability

This table compares Aterian and Qfin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aterian	-27.52%	-68.00%	-36.77%
Qfin	31.13%	24.97%	10.22%

Summary

Qfin beats Aterian on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aterian

Aterian, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology-enabled consumer products company in North America and internationally. Its platform offers home and kitchen appliances; kitchenware; cooling and air quality appliances, such as dehumidifiers; health and beauty products; and essential oils under the Squatty Potty, hOmeLabs, Mueller, Pursteam, Healing Solutions, and Photo Paper Direct brand names. The company primarily serves individual online consumers through online retail channels, such as Amazon and Walmart, as well as through its owned and operated websites and other marketplaces. The company was formerly known as Mohawk Group Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Aterian, Inc. in April 2021. Aterian, Inc. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Summit, New Jersey.

About Qfin

Qifu Technology, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates credit-tech platform under the 360 Jietiao brand in the People's Republic of China. It provides credit-driven services that matches borrowers with financial institutions to conduct customer acquisition, initial and credit screening, advanced risk assessment, credit assessment, fund matching, and other post-facilitation services; and platform services, including loan facilitation and post-facilitation services to financial institution partners under intelligence credit engine, referral services, and risk management software-as-a-service. The company also offers e-commerce loans, enterprise loans, and invoice loans to SME owners. It serves financial institutions, consumers, and small- and micro-enterprises. The company was formerly known as 360 DigiTech, Inc. and changed its name to Qifu Technology, Inc. in March 2023. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.