Critical Contrast: Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) and Black Diamond Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BDTX)

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) and Black Diamond Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BDTX) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.0% of Absci shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Black Diamond Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.5% of Absci shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.3% of Black Diamond Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Absci has a beta of 2.27, meaning that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Black Diamond Therapeutics has a beta of 3.32, meaning that its share price is 232% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Absci and Black Diamond Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Absci	-7,756.38%	-61.71%	-54.52%
Black Diamond Therapeutics	N/A	-32.10%	-25.21%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Absci and Black Diamond Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Absci	$2.80 million	622.70	-$115.18 million	($0.80)	-12.70
Black Diamond Therapeutics	$70.00 million	1.50	$22.37 million	($0.75)	-2.44

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Absci and Black Diamond Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Absci	1	0	8	0	2.78
Black Diamond Therapeutics	1	2	8	0	2.64

Absci presently has a consensus price target of $13.71, indicating a potential upside of 34.98%. Black Diamond Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $10.25, indicating a potential upside of 460.11%. Given Black Diamond Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Black Diamond Therapeutics is more favorable than Absci.

Summary

Black Diamond Therapeutics beats Absci on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Absci

Absci Corporation operates as a data-first generative artificial intelligence (AI) drug creation company in the United States. The company combines AI with scalable wet lab technologies to create biologics for patients. Its integrated drug creation platform is designed to improve upon traditional biologic drug discovery by using AI to simultaneously optimize multiple drug characteristics that may be important to development and therapeutic benefit. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Washington.

About Black Diamond Therapeutics

Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology medicine company, focuses on the discovery and development of MasterKey therapies for patients with genetically defined tumors. The company's lead product candidate is BDTX-1535, a brain-penetrant epidermal growth factor receptor MasterKey inhibitor, which is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor mutant non-small cell lung cancer, as well as phase 1 clinical trial to treat glioblastoma. It is also developing BDTX-4933, a brain-penetrant RAF MasterKey inhibitor targeting KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF alterations in solid tumors that is in phase 1 clinical trial. In addition, the company is developing BDTX-4876, a MasterKey inhibitor of oncogenic FGFR2/3 mutations with selectivity versus FGFR1/4, which is in preclinical stage. The company was formerly known as ASET Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2018. Black Diamond Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.