Critical Analysis: Magic Empire Global (NASDAQ:MEGL) and Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD)

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) and Magic Empire Global (NASDAQ:MEGL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Applied Digital has a beta of 6.94, indicating that its stock price is 594% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Magic Empire Global has a beta of 2.79, indicating that its stock price is 179% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Applied Digital and Magic Empire Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Applied Digital	-111.29%	-37.14%	-12.01%
Magic Empire Global	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Applied Digital and Magic Empire Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Applied Digital	$173.56 million	50.10	-$231.07 million	($1.13)	-27.63
Magic Empire Global	$1.65 million	3.20	-$610,000.00	N/A	N/A

Magic Empire Global has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Applied Digital.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.7% of Applied Digital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.5% of Magic Empire Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of Applied Digital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 63.0% of Magic Empire Global shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Applied Digital and Magic Empire Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Applied Digital	1	0	11	1	2.92
Magic Empire Global	1	0	0	0	1.00

Applied Digital currently has a consensus target price of $26.20, suggesting a potential downside of 16.08%. Given Applied Digital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Applied Digital is more favorable than Magic Empire Global.

Summary

Applied Digital beats Magic Empire Global on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation designs, develops, and operates datacenters in North America. Its datacenters provide digital infrastructure solutions to the high-performance computing industry. The company also provides artificial intelligence cloud services, high performance computing datacenter hosting, and crypto datacenter hosting services. The company was formerly known as Applied Blockchain, Inc. and changed its name to Applied Digital Corporation in November 2022. Applied Digital Corporation is based in Dallas, Texas.

About Magic Empire Global

Magic Empire Global Limited engages in the provision of corporate finance advisory services and underwriting services in Hong Kong. The company provides initial public offering sponsorship, financial and independent financial advisory, post-listing compliance advisory, and underwriting services by acting as global coordinator, bookrunner, lead manager, or underwriter. It also offers corporate services, which include accounting and financial reporting advisory, company secretarial services, internal control enhancement, investor relations advisory, and other consulting services. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong.