WuXi AppTec (OTCMKTS:WUXIF) and ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) Critical Comparison

WuXi AppTec (OTCMKTS:WUXIF) and ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.6% of ICON Public shares are held by institutional investors. 44.0% of ICON Public 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for WuXi AppTec and ICON Public, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WuXi AppTec	0	0	0	0	N/A
ICON Public	0	0	11	1	3.08

ICON Public has a consensus target price of $351.60, suggesting a potential upside of 16.01%. Given ICON Public’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ICON Public is more favorable than WuXi AppTec.

Profitability

This table compares WuXi AppTec and ICON Public’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WuXi AppTec	N/A	N/A	N/A
ICON Public	8.57%	12.06%	6.59%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares WuXi AppTec and ICON Public”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
WuXi AppTec	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
ICON Public	$8.33 billion	3.00	$612.34 million	$8.22	36.87

ICON Public has higher revenue and earnings than WuXi AppTec.

Summary

ICON Public beats WuXi AppTec on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About WuXi AppTec

WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd., an investment holding company, provides research, development, and manufacturing services to discover, develop, and manufacture small molecule drugs, and cell and gene therapies in the People's Republic of China, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through six segments: WuXi Chemistry, WuXi Testing, WuXi Biology, WuXi ATU, WuXi DDSU, and Others. It offers contract research, development, and manufacturing organization services for new drug development from discovery to commercial covering various categories for various synthetic molecular modalities, including small molecules, oligonucleotides, peptides, and complex conjugates; and biology services and solutions that support stand-alone and integrated projects from target discovery to candidate selection and into the clinic. The company also provides seamless drug and medical device testing services from preclinical testing to clinical trials; an integrated end-to-end solution to accelerate time to market for cell and gene therapies; drug discovery services to pharmaceutical and biotech customers; and clinical testing services. WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.

About ICON Public

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It also offers clinical development services, including all phases of development, peri and post approval, data solutions, and site and patient access services; clinical trial management, consulting, and contract staffing services; and commercial services comprising clinical development strategy, planning and trial design, full study execution, and post-market commercialization. In addition, the company provides laboratory services, including bionanalytical, biomarker, vaccine, good manufacturing practice, and central laboratory services, as well as full-service and functional service partnerships to customers. Further, it offers adaptive trials, cardiac safety solutions, clinical and scientific operations, consulting and advisory, commercial positioning, decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, early clinical, laboratories, language services, medical imaging, real world intelligence, site and patient, and strategic solutions. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. ICON Public Limited Company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.