Head to Head Contrast: Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK) versus China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY)

Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK) and China Merchants Bank (OTCMKTS:CIHKY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Argo Blockchain has a beta of 1.88, suggesting that its stock price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Merchants Bank has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its stock price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

2.4% of Argo Blockchain shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Argo Blockchain and China Merchants Bank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Argo Blockchain	$50.56 million	1.50	-$35.03 million	($0.81)	-1.47
China Merchants Bank	$70.40 billion	1.84	$20.71 billion	$3.89	6.59

China Merchants Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Argo Blockchain. Argo Blockchain is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than China Merchants Bank, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Argo Blockchain and China Merchants Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Argo Blockchain	-93.70%	-4,172.69%	-50.32%
China Merchants Bank	30.16%	13.43%	1.28%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Argo Blockchain and China Merchants Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Argo Blockchain	0	2	0	0	2.00
China Merchants Bank	0	0	0	0	N/A

Argo Blockchain currently has a consensus price target of $1.45, suggesting a potential upside of 21.85%. Given Argo Blockchain’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Argo Blockchain is more favorable than China Merchants Bank.

Summary

China Merchants Bank beats Argo Blockchain on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Argo Blockchain

Argo Blockchain plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mining business worldwide. It engages in mining purpose-built computers for complex cryptographic algorithms. The company was formerly known as GoSun Blockchain Limited and changed its name to Argo Blockchain plc in December 2017. Argo Blockchain plc was incorporated in 2017 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About China Merchants Bank

China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services. It operates through Wholesale Finance Business, Retail Finance Business, and Other Business segments. The company offers current, demand, time, call, savings, notice, and renminbi accounts. Its loan products include personal commercial real estate, consumption, housing, and car loans; loans to finance for studying abroad; micro-business loans; mortgage loans for equipment; joint guarantee, special guarantee, and housing mortgage loan; bank acceptance, discount, liquid capital, and fixed asset loans; and loans for vessels. The company also offers credit cards; insurance products; open-ended funds; discount and guarantees for commercial bills, redemption of commercial bills, and guaranteed discount for commercial acceptance bills; and financial consultation, debt financing underwriting, merger and acquisition financing, and equity financing and enterprise listing services. In addition, it provides forfeiting and risk participation, escrow, cross-border RMB clearing, and interbank services; and risk and financial management, cross-border RMB and oversea financing, international factoring and settlement, and trade finance services. Further, the company offers financial leasing and guarantee, investment and wealth management, forex option and gold trading, forex express trading, international, offshore and private banking, custody, pension, and electronic banking services. The company also operates in Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore, Luxembourg, Sydney, and Taipei. China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.