Reviewing Rapid Micro Biosystems (NASDAQ:RPID) & Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC)

Rapid Micro Biosystems (NASDAQ:RPID) and Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Rapid Micro Biosystems and Sotera Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rapid Micro Biosystems	-145.56%	-177.04%	-73.12%
Sotera Health	13.44%	40.12%	7.55%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

52.6% of Rapid Micro Biosystems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Sotera Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.7% of Rapid Micro Biosystems shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of Sotera Health shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Rapid Micro Biosystems and Sotera Health, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rapid Micro Biosystems	1	0	2	1	2.75
Sotera Health	1	2	8	0	2.64

Rapid Micro Biosystems currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 579.44%. Sotera Health has a consensus target price of $21.38, indicating a potential upside of 17.77%. Given Rapid Micro Biosystems’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Rapid Micro Biosystems is more favorable than Sotera Health.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rapid Micro Biosystems and Sotera Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rapid Micro Biosystems	$33.59 million	1.10	-$47.12 million	($1.12)	-0.66
Sotera Health	$1.16 billion	4.45	$77.94 million	$0.57	31.84

Sotera Health has higher revenue and earnings than Rapid Micro Biosystems. Rapid Micro Biosystems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sotera Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Rapid Micro Biosystems has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sotera Health has a beta of 1.85, indicating that its share price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sotera Health beats Rapid Micro Biosystems on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rapid Micro Biosystems

Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc., a life sciences technology company, provides products for the detection of microbial contamination in the manufacture of pharmaceutical, medical devices, and personal care products in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and internationally. The company offers Growth Direct platform, which includes Growth Direct system, proprietary consumables, lab information management system connection software, and customer support and validation services. Its platform automates and modernizes the manual microbial quality control (MQC) testing workflows for therapeutic modalities, such as biologics, vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and sterile injectables. The company also provides onsite technical training services. Its solutions are used in environmental monitoring, water, bioburden, and sterility release testing applications. In addition, the company offers RMBNucleus software for the Growth Direct system; RMBNucleus Mold Alarm signals at the first sign of mold detection; RMBNucleus Central Manager portal streamlines coordination of multiple instruments; and Growth Direct LIMS connection software. Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. was formerly known as Genomic Profiling Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. in January 2007. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts.

About Sotera Health

Sotera Health Company engages in the provision of sterilization, lab testing, and advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Sterigenics, Nordion, and Nelson Labs. It provides mission-critical end-to-end sterilization services, including gamma and electron beam irradiation, and ethylene oxide processing, as well as designs, installs, and maintains gamma irradiation systems. The company also provides microbiological and analytical chemistry testing, as well as technical assistance, regulatory consulting, and advisory services. It serves medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food safety, agricultural products, cancer treatment, and high-performance materials industries, as well as commercial, advanced, and specialty application industries. The company was formerly known as Sotera Health Topco, Inc. and changed its name to Sotera Health Company in October 2020. Sotera Health Company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Broadview Heights, Ohio.