Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) & Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) Critical Contrast

Circle Internet Group (NYSE:CRCL) and Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Circle Internet Group and Lazard’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Circle Internet Group	-2.76%	2.89%	0.12%
Lazard	8.47%	29.30%	5.52%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Circle Internet Group and Lazard”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Circle Internet Group	$2.75 billion	5.70	-$69.51 million	($3.20)	-19.69
Lazard	$3.10 billion	1.53	$236.83 million	$2.53	16.73

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Circle Internet Group and Lazard, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Circle Internet Group	2	13	8	1	2.33
Lazard	2	6	4	0	2.17

Circle Internet Group presently has a consensus target price of $117.38, suggesting a potential upside of 86.33%. Lazard has a consensus target price of $52.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.86%. Given Circle Internet Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Circle Internet Group is more favorable than Lazard.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.8% of Lazard shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.8% of Circle Internet Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Lazard shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Lazard beats Circle Internet Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Circle Internet Group

Founded in 2013, Circle’s mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. We intend to connect the world more deeply by building a new global economic system on the foundation of the internet, and to facilitate the creation of a world where everyone, everywhere can share value as easily as we can today share information, content, and communications. Since inception, we have relentlessly pursued our mission and vision, building fundamental technology for the internet financial system. We have forged paths toward mainstream acceptance through persistent and active engagement with policymakers and regulators globally, and have seen institutional and consumer knowledge and acceptance of internet-native financial assets approach critical mass. Large and influential players in the incumbent financial services system are increasingly embracing digital assets broadly and stablecoins specifically. Circle’s innovative products reach tens of millions of end-users, power thousands of businesses, and, as of March 31, 2025, USDC has been used for more than $25 trillion in onchain transactions. While we have made strong progress in our pursuit of our mission and vision over the past decade, we believe the internet financial system is in its infancy with decades of growth and innovation ahead. Our principal executive office is located in New York, NY.

About Lazard

Lazard, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services. This segment offers its services to corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign, and individual clients to various industry areas, including consumers, financial institutions, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, power and energy/infrastructure, real estate, technology, telecommunication, and media and entertainment. The Asset Management segment offers a range of investment solutions; investment and wealth management services in equity and fixed income strategies; asset allocation strategies; and alternative investments and private equity funds to corporations, public funds, sovereign entities, endowments and foundations, labor funds, financial intermediaries, and private clients. Lazard, Inc. was incorporated in 1848 and is headquartered in New York, New York.