Critical Survey: Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) vs. Fulgent Genetics (NASDAQ:FLGT)

Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) and Fulgent Genetics (NASDAQ:FLGT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Grail and Fulgent Genetics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grail	0	3	1	0	2.25
Fulgent Genetics	0	1	1	0	2.50

Grail currently has a consensus target price of $26.00, suggesting a potential downside of 39.38%. Fulgent Genetics has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.28%. Given Fulgent Genetics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fulgent Genetics is more favorable than Grail.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

48.1% of Fulgent Genetics shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Grail shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 31.8% of Fulgent Genetics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grail and Fulgent Genetics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grail	$125.60 million	12.05	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fulgent Genetics	$292.45 million	2.11	-$167.82 million	($1.33)	-15.26

Grail has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fulgent Genetics.

Profitability

This table compares Grail and Fulgent Genetics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grail	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fulgent Genetics	-59.39%	-1.81%	-1.66%

Summary

Fulgent Genetics beats Grail on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grail

GRAIL, Inc. operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T. Huber, William H. Rastetter, Mostafa Ronaghi, and Richard D. Klausner on September 11, 2015 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.

About Fulgent Genetics

Fulgent Genetics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides clinical diagnostic and therapeutic development solutions to physicians and patients in the United States and internationally. The company’s clinical diagnostic solutions include molecular diagnostic testing; genetic testing; anatomic pathology laboratory tests and testing services, such as gastrointestinal pathology, dermatopathology, urologic pathology, breast pathology, neuropathology, and hematopathology; oncology tests and testing services; and sequencer services related to hereditary cancer, reproductive health, and other diseases. Its therapeutic development solutions focus on developing drug candidates for treating a range of cancers using a nanoencapsulation and targeted therapy platform to enhance the therapeutic window and pharmacokinetic profile of new and existing cancer drugs. The company operates picture genetics platform, which includes gene probes, data suppression and comparison algorithms, adaptive learning software, and proprietary laboratory information management systems that helps customers to identify health markers in their personal DNA. It serves insurance, hospitals, medical institutions, other laboratories, governmental bodies, payors, municipalities and large corporations, and patients. The company was formerly known as Fulgent Diagnostics, Inc. and changed its name to Fulgent Genetics, Inc. in August 2016. Fulgent Genetics, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in El Monte, California.