Reviewing Cleanspark (NASDAQ:CLSK) & Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cleanspark (NASDAQ:CLSK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Cleanspark has a beta of 3.84, indicating that its stock price is 284% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Microsoft has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cleanspark and Microsoft”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cleanspark	$766.31 million	2.57	$364.46 million	($3.77)	-2.03
Microsoft	$331.84 billion	11.66	$133.75 billion	$17.96	29.01

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

Profitability

This table compares Cleanspark and Microsoft’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cleanspark	-146.90%	-18.63%	-8.15%
Microsoft	41.17%	32.31%	19.03%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Cleanspark and Microsoft, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cleanspark	2	0	14	1	2.82
Microsoft	0	4	45	1	2.94

Cleanspark presently has a consensus price target of $22.75, suggesting a potential upside of 196.80%. Microsoft has a consensus price target of $609.54, suggesting a potential upside of 17.01%. Given Cleanspark’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Cleanspark is more favorable than Microsoft.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

43.1% of Cleanspark shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.1% of Microsoft shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Cleanspark shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Microsoft shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Microsoft beats Cleanspark on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cleanspark

CleanSpark, Inc. operates as a bitcoin miner in the Americas. It owns and operates data centers that primarily run on low-carbon power. Its infrastructure supports Bitcoin, a digital commodity and a tool for financial independence and inclusion. The company was formerly known as Stratean Inc. and changed its name to CleanSpark, Inc. in November 2016. CleanSpark, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services. This segment also provides LinkedIn; and dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, power apps, and power automate; and on-premises ERP and CRM applications. The Intelligent Cloud segment offers server products and cloud services, such as azure and other cloud services; SQL and windows server, visual studio, system center, and related client access licenses, as well as nuance and GitHub; and enterprise services including enterprise support services, industry solutions, and nuance professional services. The More Personal Computing segment offers Windows, including windows OEM licensing and other non-volume licensing of the Windows operating system; Windows commercial comprising volume licensing of the Windows operating system, windows cloud services, and other Windows commercial offerings; patent licensing; and windows Internet of Things; and devices, such as surface, HoloLens, and PC accessories. Additionally, this segment provides gaming, which includes Xbox hardware and content, and first- and third-party content; Xbox game pass and other subscriptions, cloud gaming, advertising, third-party disc royalties, and other cloud services; and search and news advertising, which includes Bing, Microsoft News and Edge, and third-party affiliates. The company sells its products through OEMs, distributors, and resellers; and directly through digital marketplaces, online, and retail stores. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.