Cencora (NYSE:COR) versus iSpecimen (NASDAQ:ISPC) Financial Analysis

iSpecimen (NASDAQ:ISPC) and Cencora (NYSE:COR) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Risk and Volatility

iSpecimen has a beta of 1.75, indicating that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cencora has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for iSpecimen and Cencora, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
iSpecimen	1	0	0	0	1.00
Cencora	0	3	12	0	2.80

Cencora has a consensus price target of $380.25, suggesting a potential upside of 46.27%. Given Cencora’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cencora is more favorable than iSpecimen.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.6% of iSpecimen shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.5% of Cencora shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.2% of iSpecimen shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Cencora shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares iSpecimen and Cencora”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
iSpecimen	$1.93 million	1.94	-$10.49 million	($94.00)	-0.05
Cencora	$321.33 billion	0.16	$1.55 billion	$13.04	19.94

Cencora has higher revenue and earnings than iSpecimen. iSpecimen is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cencora, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares iSpecimen and Cencora’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
iSpecimen	-543.37%	-496.31%	-133.56%
Cencora	0.78%	135.20%	4.20%

Summary

Cencora beats iSpecimen on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About iSpecimen

iSpecimen Inc. provides technology that connects life science researchers who need human biofluids, tissues, and living cells for their research with biospecimens available in healthcare provider organizations worldwide. Its cloud-based technology enables scientists to search for specimens and patients across a network of hospitals, clinics, private practice groups, laboratories, blood centers, biobanks, clinical research sites, and cadaveric donation centers. The company develops and operates iSpecimen Marketplace, a proprietary online marketplace platform that connects medical researchers who need access to subjects, samples, and data with hospitals, laboratories, and other organizations who have access to them. It serves biopharmaceutical companies, in vitro diagnostic companies, and government/academic institutions. iSpecimen Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.

About Cencora

Cencora, Inc. sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The company's U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; and sales force services to manufacturers. This segment also distributes plasma and other blood products, injectable pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other specialty products; and provides other services to physicians who specialize in various disease states, such as oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics. Its International Healthcare Solutions segment offers international pharmaceutical wholesale and related service, and global commercialization services; distributes pharmaceuticals, other healthcare products, and related services to pharmacies, doctors, health centers, and hospitals primarily in Europe; and provides specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company was formerly known as AmerisourceBergen Corporation and changed its name to Cencora, Inc. in August 2023. Cencora, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.