The only fact we can reliably work on at present is that two, supposedly highly experienced pilots, wasted a full 38,000 of height in a perfectly good aircraft, and flew into the sea after an updraught upset. On that basis, the comparison with AF447 is inescapable.
I fail to see how an updraught upset can lead to total hull loss without total confusion in the cockpit. No doubt they were in total IMC, which would nearly equate to the total darkness of the AF447 incident.
There is no indication that the aircraft was torn apart by the stormy conditions, it was briefly spotted by two fishermen, still flying in one piece, heading towards the sea.
The talk of a "nearly-successful ditching" is fantasy, the sea and wind conditions in the area were atrocious, and still are atrocious.