Contrasting Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS) and Marker Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MRKR)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Emergent Biosolutions and Marker Therapeutics”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	0.47	$52.60 million	($3.55)	-1.92
Marker Therapeutics	$3.55 million	5.54	-$12.16 million	($0.41)	-2.88

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.4% of Emergent Biosolutions shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.4% of Marker Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 6.0% of Emergent Biosolutions shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Marker Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Emergent Biosolutions and Marker Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Emergent Biosolutions	2	1	3	0	2.17
Marker Therapeutics	1	1	2	0	2.25

Emergent Biosolutions presently has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.97%. Marker Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 747.46%. Given Marker Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marker Therapeutics is more favorable than Emergent Biosolutions.

Profitability

This table compares Emergent Biosolutions and Marker Therapeutics’ 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%
Marker Therapeutics	-343.03%	-56.96%	-47.82%

Risk & Volatility

Emergent Biosolutions has a beta of 2.34, indicating that its stock price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marker Therapeutics has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Emergent Biosolutions beats Marker Therapeutics 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 Marker Therapeutics

Marker Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, engages in the development and commercialization of novel T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications. Its multi tumor associated antigen-specific T cell technology is based on the manufacture of non-engineered tumor-specific T cells that recognize multiple tumor-associated antigens. The company also develops MT-401-OTS for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia; and MT-601 to treat lymphoma and pancreatic cancer. Marker Therapeutics, Inc. is headquartered in Houston, Texas.