Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI – Get Free Report) and Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Maravai LifeSciences and Spruce Biosciences’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Maravai LifeSciences | $543.92 million | 3.16 | $220.21 million | $0.57 | 12.00 |
| Spruce Biosciences | $4.13 million | 10.65 | -$46.18 million | ($1.67) | -0.65 |
Maravai LifeSciences has higher revenue and earnings than Spruce Biosciences. Spruce Biosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Maravai LifeSciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Maravai LifeSciences | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Spruce Biosciences | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |
Maravai LifeSciences presently has a consensus price target of $14.10, suggesting a potential upside of 106.14%. Spruce Biosciences has a consensus price target of $7.67, suggesting a potential upside of 609.88%. Given Spruce Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Spruce Biosciences is more favorable than Maravai LifeSciences.
Volatility and Risk
Maravai LifeSciences has a beta of -0.11, indicating that its stock price is 111% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spruce Biosciences has a beta of 2.17, indicating that its stock price is 117% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Maravai LifeSciences and Spruce Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Maravai LifeSciences | 13.88% | 20.67% | 8.04% |
| Spruce Biosciences | N/A | -54.80% | -43.19% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
50.3% of Maravai LifeSciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Spruce Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Maravai LifeSciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Spruce Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
About Maravai LifeSciences
Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc., a life sciences company, provides products to enable the development of drug therapies, diagnostics, novel vaccines, and support research on human diseases in the United States and internationally. The company's products address the key phases of biopharmaceutical development and include nucleic acids for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, antibody-based products to detect impurities during the production of biopharmaceutical products, and products to detect the expression of proteins in tissues of various species. It operates in two segments, Nucleic Acid Production and Biologics Safety Testing. The Nucleic Acid Production segment manufactures and sells products for use in the fields of gene therapy, nucleoside chemistry, oligonucleotide therapy, and molecular diagnostics, including reagents used in the chemical synthesis, modification, labelling, and purification of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). This segment also offers messenger RNA, oligonucleotides, and oligonucleotide building blocks, as well as plasmid DNA and CleanCap capping technology. The Biologics Safety Testing segment sells analytical products for use in biologic manufacturing process development, including custom product-specific development antibody and assay development services. This segment also provides HCP ELISA kits, other bioprocess impurity and contaminant ELISA kits, ancillary reagents, Viral Clearance Prediction kits, and custom services. It serves biopharmaceutical companies, and other biopharmaceutical and life sciences research companies; and academic research institutions and in vitro diagnostics companies. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
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. The company 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. Spruce Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.
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