Critical Survey: Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) versus Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS)

Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) and Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.4% of Emergent Biosolutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.3% of Oncocyte shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of Emergent Biosolutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Oncocyte shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Emergent Biosolutions and Oncocyte’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Emergent Biosolutions	-22.95%	16.35%	6.17%
Oncocyte	-2,955.63%	N/A	-107.52%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Emergent Biosolutions and Oncocyte, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emergent Biosolutions	2	1	3	0	2.17
Oncocyte	1	0	2	0	2.33

Emergent Biosolutions currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 57.43%. Oncocyte has a consensus price target of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 161.19%. Given Oncocyte’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Oncocyte is more favorable than Emergent Biosolutions.

Volatility & Risk

Emergent Biosolutions has a beta of 2.34, suggesting that its share price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oncocyte has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Emergent Biosolutions and Oncocyte”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Emergent Biosolutions	$742.90 million	0.44	$52.60 million	($3.55)	-1.79
Oncocyte	$4.05 million	32.48	-$50.22 million	($1.49)	-2.70

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

Summary

Emergent Biosolutions beats Oncocyte on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Emergent Biosolutions

Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, provides preparedness and response solutions for accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats in the United States. The company offers NARCAN Nasal Spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vaxchora vaccine for the prevention of cholera; Vivotif vaccine for oral administration for the prevention of typhoid fever; Anthrasil for the treatment of inhalational anthrax; BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; CYFENDUS for post-exposure prophylaxis of disease following suspected or confirmed exposure to Bacillus anthracis; and Raxibacumab injection for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax. It also provides ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; CNJ-016 to address complications from smallpox vaccination; TEMBEXA for the treatment of smallpox disease caused by variola virus in adult and pediatric patients; BAT for the treatment of symptomatic botulism; Ebanga for the treatment of Ebola; Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion Kit to remove or neutralize chemical warfare agents from the skin; Trobigard, a atropine sulfate obidoxime chloride auto-injector. In addition, the company is developing CGRD-001 for the treatment of poisoning by organophosphorus nerve agents or organophosphorus compounds; EBS-LASV to prevent Lassa fever; EBS-MARV to prevent Marburg virus disease; EBS-SUDV to prevent Sudan virus disease; Pan-Ebola mAbs for the treatment of ebola virus; SIAN Antidote for initial treatment of certain or suspected acute cyanide poisoning; UniFlu for immunity against influenza A and B viruses; and WEVEE-VLP for equine encephalitis virus infections. Further, it provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

About Oncocyte

OncoCyte Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, researches, develops, and commercializes proprietary laboratory-developed tests for the detection of cancer in the United States and internationally. The company offers DetermaRx, a molecular test for early-stage adenocarcinoma of the lung; and DetermaIO, a proprietary gene expression assay. It also provides biomarker discovery testing, assay design and development, and clinical trial support services, as well as various biomarker tests for pharmaceutical companies. The company has a collaboration agreement with Life Technologies Corporation to develop and collaborate in the commercialization of Oncomine Comprehensive Assay Plus and Determa IO assay for use with Ion Torrent Genexus integrated sequencer and purification system. OncoCyte Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Irvine, California.