Critical Comparison: Scopus BioPharma (NASDAQ:SCPS) & AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL)

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Profitability

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

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

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

AbCellera Biologics has a consensus target price of $8.67, suggesting a potential upside of 187.93%. Given AbCellera Biologics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AbCellera Biologics is more favorable than Scopus BioPharma.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scopus BioPharma	N/A	N/A	-$11.61 million	N/A	N/A
AbCellera Biologics	$32.96 million	26.97	-$146.40 million	($0.61)	-4.93

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.4% of AbCellera Biologics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Scopus BioPharma shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 28.0% of AbCellera Biologics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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

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.

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.