Analyzing UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) & Applied DNA Sciences (NASDAQ:APDN)

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) and Applied DNA Sciences (NASDAQ:APDN) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for UL Solutions and Applied DNA Sciences, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UL Solutions	0	4	8	0	2.67
Applied DNA Sciences	0	0	1	0	3.00

UL Solutions presently has a consensus target price of $43.90, indicating a potential downside of 9.60%. Applied DNA Sciences has a consensus target price of $1.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.45%. Given Applied DNA Sciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Applied DNA Sciences is more favorable than UL Solutions.

Profitability

This table compares UL Solutions and Applied DNA Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UL Solutions	N/A	N/A	N/A
Applied DNA Sciences	-214.42%	-138.41%	-58.97%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.2% of Applied DNA Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Applied DNA Sciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares UL Solutions and Applied DNA Sciences’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UL Solutions	$2.68 billion	3.63	$260.00 million	N/A	N/A
Applied DNA Sciences	$3.40 million	0.42	-$9.95 million	($17.11)	-0.08

UL Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Applied DNA Sciences.

Summary

UL Solutions beats Applied DNA Sciences on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UL Solutions

UL Solutions Inc. provides safety science services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Consumer, and Software and Advisory. The Industrial segment provides testing, inspection, and certification services across various end markets, including energy, industrial automation, engineered materials, and built environment, as well as stakeholders, such as manufacturers, building owners, end users, and regulators. The Consumer segment offers safety certification testing, ongoing certification, global market access, testing for connectivity, performance and quality, and critical systems advisory and training services, as well as product market acceptance and risk mitigation services for customers in the consumer products end markets comprising consumer electronics, medical devices, information technologies, appliances, HVAC, lighting, and retail, as well as consumer applications, such as new mobility, smart products, and 5G. The Software and Advisory segment provide software and technical advisory services that enable customers to manage regulatory requirements, deliver supply chain transparency, and operationalize sustainability for regulated industries, including life sciences, supply chain regulations, transparency needs, and new ESG and sustainability requirements. It offers ULTRUS software brand to help customers improve speed to market, sustainability and safety. UL Solutions Inc. was formerly known as UL Inc. and changed its name to UL Solutions Inc. in June 2022. The company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois with additional offices in North America, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East. UL Solutions Inc. operates as a subsidiary of ULSE Inc.

About Applied DNA Sciences

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes technologies to produce and detect deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Therapeutic DNA Production Services; MDx Testing Services; and DNA Tagging and Security Products and Services. The Therapeutic DNA Production Services segment develops and commercializes the LinearDNA platform, which enables a cell-free manufacture of high-fidelity synthetic DNA sequences for use in nucleic acid-based therapeutics. The MDx Testing Services segment provides clinical molecular diagnostics (MDx) testing and clinical laboratory testing services; COVID-19 testing services, including test scheduling, sample collection, and automated results reporting for higher education institutions, private clients, and businesses under the safeCircle trademark; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for production and detection of DNA and RNA; and MDx test kits and related supplies, as well as Isotopic analysis testing services. The DNA Tagging and Security Products and Services segment offers SigNature Molecular Tags, which provides a methodology to authenticate goods within large and complex supply chains for materials, such as cotton, nutraceuticals, and other products; SigNify portable DNA readers and SigNify consumable reagent test kits; and fiberTyping, which uses PCR-based DNA detection to detect a product's naturally occurring DNA sequences for the purposes of product provenance authentication and supply chain security. The company was formerly known as Datalink Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. in 2002. Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Stony Brook, New York.