Head-To-Head Analysis: Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB) versus PyroGenesis Canada (NASDAQ:PYRGF)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Spruce Biosciences and PyroGenesis Canada, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spruce Biosciences	1	6	0	0	1.86
PyroGenesis Canada	0	0	0	0	0.00

Spruce Biosciences currently has a consensus target price of $131.25, suggesting a potential downside of 16.84%. Given Spruce Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Spruce Biosciences is more favorable than PyroGenesis Canada.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spruce Biosciences and PyroGenesis Canada”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spruce Biosciences	$4.91 million	18.00	-$53.04 million	($86.21)	-1.83
PyroGenesis Canada	$9.14 million	3.70	-$21.12 million	($0.03)	-6.00

PyroGenesis Canada has higher revenue and earnings than Spruce Biosciences. PyroGenesis Canada is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Spruce Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Spruce Biosciences has a beta of 2.47, meaning that its share price is 147% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PyroGenesis Canada has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spruce Biosciences	N/A	-177.45%	-118.06%
PyroGenesis Canada	-115.14%	N/A	-60.81%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.7% of Spruce Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of PyroGenesis Canada shares are held by institutional investors. 6.9% of Spruce Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 47.7% of PyroGenesis Canada shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Spruce Biosciences beats PyroGenesis Canada on 7 of the 13 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 PyroGenesis Canada

PyroGenesis Canada Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and commercializes plasma processes and solutions worldwide. The company offers DROSRITE, a process for enhancing metal recovery from dross without any hazardous by-products; plasma atomization process that allows produce and sell high purity spherical metal powders; PUREVAP, a process to produce high purity metallurgical and solar grade silicon from quartz; and PUREVAP NSiR, which is designed to transform silicon into spherical silicon nano powders and nanowires for use in lithium-ion batteries. It provides plasma torches and plasma torch systems used toreplace fossil fuel burners in industrial iron ore pelletization process; plasma arc waste destruction systems for waste destruction onboard ships; steam plasma arc refrigerant cracking systems for the destruction of certain refrigerants, including chlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and hydrochlorofluorocarbons; plasma arc chemical warfare agent destruction systems, which are mobile platforms for the onsite destruction of chemical warfare agents; plasma resource recovery systems for land-based waste destruction and waste-to-energy applications; plasma torches for waste gasification and combustion; and plasma arc gasification and vitrification. In addition, it offers engineering and manufacturing expertise, and contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, additive manufacturing (including 3D printing), oil and gas, and environmental industries. Further, the company provides installation, commissioning, and start-up services. PyroGenesis Canada Inc. is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.