Critical Analysis: Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) versus ABIVAX Société Anonyme (NASDAQ:ABVX)

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) and ABIVAX Société Anonyme (NASDAQ:ABVX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Emergent BioSolutions and ABIVAX Société Anonyme’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Emergent BioSolutions	-47.68%	-18.53%	-7.14%
ABIVAX Société Anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.4% of Emergent BioSolutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of ABIVAX Société Anonyme shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Emergent BioSolutions shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Emergent BioSolutions and ABIVAX Société Anonyme, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emergent BioSolutions	1	0	1	0	2.00
ABIVAX Société Anonyme	0	1	5	0	2.83

Emergent BioSolutions presently has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.84%. ABIVAX Société Anonyme has a consensus target price of $34.20, indicating a potential upside of 149.27%. Given ABIVAX Société Anonyme’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ABIVAX Société Anonyme is more favorable than Emergent BioSolutions.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Emergent BioSolutions and ABIVAX Société Anonyme’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Emergent BioSolutions	$1.16 billion	0.29	-$760.50 million	($11.01)	-0.59
ABIVAX Société Anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

ABIVAX Société Anonyme has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Emergent BioSolutions.

Summary

ABIVAX Société Anonyme beats Emergent BioSolutions on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Emergent BioSolutions

Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, provides preparedness and response solutions for accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats in the United States. The company offers NARCAN Nasal Spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vaxchora vaccine for the prevention of cholera; Vivotif vaccine for oral administration for the prevention of typhoid fever; Anthrasil for the treatment of inhalational anthrax; BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; CYFENDUS for post-exposure prophylaxis of disease following suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis; and Raxibacumab injection for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax. It also provides ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; CNJ-016 to address complications from smallpox vaccination; TEMBEXA for the treatment of smallpox disease caused by variola virus in adult and pediatric patients; BAT for the treatment of symptomatic botulism; Ebanga for the treatment of Ebola; Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion Kit to remove or neutralize chemical warfare agents from the skin; Trobigard, a atropine sulfate obidoxime chloride auto-injector. In addition, the company is developing CGRD-001 for the treatment of poisoning by organophosphorus nerve agents or organophosphorus compounds; EBS-LASV to prevent Lassa fever; EBS-MARV to prevent Marburg virus disease; EBS-SUDV to prevent Sudan virus disease; Pan-Ebola mAbs for the treatment of ebola virus; SIAN Antidote for initial treatment of certain or suspected acute cyanide poisoning; UniFlu for immunity against influenza A and B viruses; and WEVEE-VLP for equine encephalitis virus infections. Further, it provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

About ABIVAX Société Anonyme

ABIVAX Société Anonyme, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing therapeutics that harness the body's natural regulatory mechanisms to stablize the immune response in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. The company is evaluating its lead drug candidate, obefazimod, in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults. ABIVAX Société Anonyme was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Paris, France.