Financial Review: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) & Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB)

Yuanbao (NASDAQ:YB) and Equitable (NYSE:EQH) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.7% of Equitable shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Equitable shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Yuanbao and Equitable, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Yuanbao	0	1	0	0	2.00
Equitable	0	2	9	1	2.92

Equitable has a consensus price target of $64.18, suggesting a potential upside of 43.99%. Given Equitable’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Equitable is more favorable than Yuanbao.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Yuanbao	$3.80 billion	0.25	$120.44 million	$1.79	11.72
Equitable	$12.44 billion	1.03	$1.31 billion	($2.76)	-16.15

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

Profitability

This table compares Yuanbao and Equitable’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Yuanbao	N/A	N/A	N/A
Equitable	-5.80%	107.71%	0.59%

Summary

Equitable beats Yuanbao on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Yuanbao

Our mission is to protect health and well-being through technology. We are a leading technology-driven online insurance distributor in China. We take pride in pioneering the seamless integration of insurance with cutting-edge technologies, and have constructed a highly efficient full consumer service cycle engine. Through this engine, we successfully distribute suitable and high-quality insurance products to over ten million insurance consumers. According to Frost & Sullivan, we were the largest independent insurance distributor in China’s personal life and accident & health (A&H) insurance market in terms of first year premiums in 2023. Our engine enables us to provide customized services for each insurance consumer across personalized recommendation, purchasing, policy management, claim settlements and post-sales services. Built upon a scalable architecture, our engine is equipped with effective predictive capabilities generated from interconnected networks of models. This allows us to continually optimize model outcomes across different media channels, diverse consumer preferences and product depth and breadth. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 4,700 models supporting our operations. Our engine offers significant value propositions for insurance consumers and insurance carriers. We act as a unique and efficient gateway to distribute customized insurance products underwritten by our partnered insurance carriers. We have robust collaboration with insurance carriers by empowering them to tailor a variety of flagship insurance products, which in turn enables us to attract and retain a vast consumer base and stimulate their demand for insurance products. By accumulating and analyzing more big data, we gain deeper and wider understanding of consumer demands and behavior. Through all this, we are able to fulfill consumers’ evolving needs and enhance insurance carriers’ sales at the same time. We believe there is substantial untapped market potential for online insurance distribution. According to Frost & Sullivan, the penetration rate of online insurance sales still lags behind the penetration rate of online retail sales. Moreover, the penetration rate of online distribution for personal life and A&H insurance in China, in terms of gross written premium (“GWP”), is anticipated to double over the next five years. Driven by our engine and our market leading position, we are well-positioned to further penetrate this rapidly growing market. Our principal executive offices are located in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy. The Individual Retirement segment offers a suite of variable annuity products primarily to affluent and high net worth individuals. The Group Retirement segment provides tax-deferred investment and retirement services or products to plans sponsored by educational entities, municipalities, and not-for-profit entities, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. The Investment Management and Research segment offers diversified investment management, research, and related services to various clients through institutional. The Protection Solutions segment provides life insurance products, such as VUL insurance and IUL insurance, term life, and employee benefits business, such as dental, vision, life, as well as short- and long-term disability insurance products to small and medium-sized businesses. The Wealth Management segment offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts, financial planning and advice, life insurance, and annuity products. The Legacy segment consists of the capital intensive fixed-rate GMxB business that includes ROP death benefits. The company was formerly known as AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Equitable Holdings, Inc. in January 2020. Equitable Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in New York, New York.