Quantum-Si (NASDAQ:QSI – Get Free Report) and Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB – Get Free Report) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
39.9% of Quantum-Si shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.0% of Quantum-Si shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Pacific Biosciences of California shares are owned by company 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 and Valuation
This table compares Quantum-Si and Pacific Biosciences of California”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Quantum-Si | $2.44 million | 85.95 | -$101.34 million | ($0.46) | -2.08 |
| Pacific Biosciences of California | $159.27 million | 3.57 | -$546.38 million | ($0.43) | -4.26 |
Quantum-Si has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Pacific Biosciences of California. Pacific Biosciences of California is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Quantum-Si, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Quantum-Si and Pacific Biosciences of California, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Quantum-Si | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Pacific Biosciences of California | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1.83 |
Quantum-Si presently has a consensus price target of $2.50, suggesting a potential upside of 160.93%. Pacific Biosciences of California has a consensus price target of $1.71, suggesting a potential downside of 6.42%. Given Quantum-Si’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Quantum-Si is more favorable than Pacific Biosciences of California.
Risk and Volatility
Quantum-Si has a beta of 3.25, meaning that its stock price is 225% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pacific Biosciences of California has a beta of 2.31, meaning that its stock price is 131% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Quantum-Si and Pacific Biosciences of California’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Quantum-Si | -6,138.26% | -47.12% | -43.18% |
| Pacific Biosciences of California | -82.49% | -5,752.12% | -19.52% |
Summary
Quantum-Si beats Pacific Biosciences of California on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Quantum-Si
Quantum-Si incorporated, a life sciences company, engages in the development of single-molecule detection platform to enable Next Generation Protein Sequencing (NGPS). The company's platform is comprised of the Platinum NGPS instrument; the Platinum Analysis Software service; and reagent kits and semiconductor chips for use with its instruments. It is used in protein identification, protein variants, antibody characterization, biomarker identification, and post translational modification analysis applications. The company was founded in 2013 is headquartered in Branford, Connecticut.
About Pacific Biosciences of California
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases. It also offers binding kits, such as modified DNA polymerase used to bind SMRTbell libraries to the polymerase in preparation for sequencing; and sequencing kits comprise reagents required for on-instrument, real-time sequencing, including the phospholinked nucleotides. In addition, it provides revio system + sequel systems which conduct, monitor, and analyze single-molecule biochemical reactions in real time; SBB short-read sequencing; onso instrument conducts, monitors, and analyzes SBB biochemical reactions; and SBB consumable, including flow cells, clustering, and sequencing reagent kits. The company serves academic and governmental research institutions; commercial testing and service laboratories; genome centers; public health labs, hospitals and clinical research institutes, and contract research organizations; pharmaceutical companies; and agricultural companies. It markets its products through a sales force and distribution partners in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It has a development and commercialization agreement with Invitae Corporation; and a collaboration with Radboud University Medical to explore genetic causes of rare and genetic diseases. The company was formerly known as Nanofluidics, Inc. and changed its name to Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. in 2005. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
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