Comparing Scopus BioPharma (NASDAQ:SCPS) and AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL)

AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL) and Scopus BioPharma (NASDAQ:SCPS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for AbCellera Biologics and Scopus BioPharma, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AbCellera Biologics	0	1	2	0	2.67
Scopus BioPharma	0	0	0	0	0.00

AbCellera Biologics currently has a consensus target price of $8.67, indicating a potential upside of 206.24%. Given AbCellera Biologics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AbCellera Biologics is more favorable than Scopus BioPharma.

Profitability

This table compares AbCellera Biologics and Scopus BioPharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AbCellera Biologics	-533.32%	-15.73%	-12.22%
Scopus BioPharma	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

AbCellera Biologics has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scopus BioPharma has a beta of -0.11, meaning that its stock price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.4% of AbCellera Biologics shares are held by institutional investors. 28.0% of AbCellera Biologics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Scopus BioPharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AbCellera Biologics and Scopus BioPharma”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AbCellera Biologics	$38.03 million	21.98	-$146.40 million	($0.61)	-4.64
Scopus BioPharma	N/A	N/A	-$11.61 million	N/A	N/A

Scopus BioPharma has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AbCellera Biologics.

Summary

AbCellera Biologics beats Scopus BioPharma on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AbCellera Biologics

AbCellera Biologics Inc. builds an engine for antibody drug discovery and development. Its engine discovers antibodies from natural immune responses, which are pre-enriched for antibodies. The company’s preclinical products are ABCL635 for metabolic and endocrine conditions; and ABCL575 for atopic dermatitis. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company; a research collaboration with Confo Therapeutics for the discovery of therapeutic antibody candidates targeting two undisclosed GPCR targets; and strategic collaboration with Biogen Inc. to discover therapeutic antibodies for neurological conditions, as well as collaboration with Viking Global Investors and ArrowMark Partners. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Scopus BioPharma

Scopus BioPharma Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing transformational therapeutics targeting serious diseases with unmet medical needs. It offers Duet Platform, which consists of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a master immune checkpoint inhibitor and toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), as well as includes CpG-STAT3ASO (DUET-02), CpG-STAT3siRNA (DUET-01), and CpG-STAT3decoy (DUET-03); and that develops a suite of bifunctional oligonucleotides that activate antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the tumor microenvironment that alleviates tumor immunosuppression to jump-start T cell-mediated immune responses. The company is also developing DUET-01, as a monotherapy targeting B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma; DUET-02 that provides systemic delivery for treatment of solid tumors comprising prostate or kidney cancers; and DUET-03, which targets the actual STAT3 transcription factor protein. Scopus BioPharma Inc. has licensing agreements with the City of Hope, National Institutes of Health Program, and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The company was formerly known as Project18 Inc. and changed its name to Scopus BioPharma Inc. in December 2017. Scopus BioPharma Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in New York, New York.