Analyzing Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB) and Adagene (NASDAQ:ADAG)

Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB) and Adagene (NASDAQ:ADAG) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Spruce Biosciences has a beta of 2.41, suggesting that its share price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adagene has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.7% of Spruce Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.5% of Adagene shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.1% of Spruce Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.2% of Adagene shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spruce Biosciences and Adagene’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Biosciences	$10.13 million	2.31	-$47.92 million	($1.13)	-0.50
Adagene	$18.11 million	6.61	-$18.95 million	N/A	N/A

Adagene has higher revenue and earnings than Spruce Biosciences.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Spruce Biosciences and Adagene, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Biosciences	0	6	2	0	2.25
Adagene	0	0	1	0	3.00

Spruce Biosciences currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 781.21%. Adagene has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 84.50%. Given Spruce Biosciences’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Spruce Biosciences is more favorable than Adagene.

Profitability

This table compares Spruce Biosciences and Adagene’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spruce Biosciences	-461.67%	-57.53%	-43.45%
Adagene	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Adagene beats Spruce Biosciences on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spruce Biosciences

Spruce Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders. The company engages in developing tildacerfont, a non-steroidal therapy to enhance disease control and reduce steroid burden for patients suffering from congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which is in Phase 2b clinical trial; and to evaluate glucocorticoid reduction in adult patients with classic CAH that is Phase 2b clinical trial. It is also developing tildacerfont for the treatment of pediatric classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia in children that is in Phase 2 clinical trial; and for females with polycystic ovary syndrome, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial. Spruce Biosciences, Inc. has a license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to research, develop, and commercialize compounds for various pharmaceutical uses; and collaboration and license agreement with Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize tildacerfont for the treatment of CAH in Japan. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Adagene

Adagene Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, engages in the research, development, and production of monoclonal antibody drugs for cancers. The company's product candidates include ADG106, a human ligand-blocking agonistic anti- CD137 IgG4 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trials for the treatment advanced solid tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; ADG126, a masked fully-human anti-CTLA-4 mAb that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment advanced/metastatic solid tumors; and ADG116, a human ligand-blocking anti-CTLA-4 mAb, which is in Phase 1b/2 clinical development for the treatment of advanced/metastatic solid tumors. It also offers ADG104, an anti-PD-L1 mAb that is in Phase 2 clinical development; ADG125, a novel anti-CSF-1R mAb, which is in Phase I clinical trial; ADG206, a masked, Fc engineered anti-CD137 agonistic POWERbody; ADG153, a masked anti-CD47 IgG1 SAFEbody, which is in preclinical for the treatment hematologic and solid tumors; ADG138, novel HER2xCD3 POWERbody, which is in preclinical for the treatment HER2-expressing solid tumors; and ADG152, a v POWERbody, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment off-tumor toxicities, as well as develops anti-CD28 bispecific POWERbody TCEs. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Suzhou, China.