Comparing Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) and Promis Neurosciences (NASDAQ:PMN)

Promis Neurosciences (NASDAQ:PMN) and Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Promis Neurosciences and Fortrea’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Promis Neurosciences	N/A	-336.93%	-184.39%
Fortrea	-36.77%	5.64%	1.56%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Promis Neurosciences and Fortrea, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Promis Neurosciences	1	0	3	0	2.50
Fortrea	2	9	1	1	2.08

Promis Neurosciences presently has a consensus target price of $72.67, suggesting a potential upside of 818.67%. Fortrea has a consensus target price of $11.69, suggesting a potential downside of 17.92%. Given Promis Neurosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Promis Neurosciences is more favorable than Fortrea.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Promis Neurosciences and Fortrea”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Promis Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	$2.78 million	($19.00)	-0.42
Fortrea	$2.70 billion	0.49	-$328.50 million	($11.24)	-1.27

Promis Neurosciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fortrea. Fortrea is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Promis Neurosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Promis Neurosciences has a beta of -0.05, indicating that its share price is 105% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fortrea has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.1% of Promis Neurosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Promis Neurosciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Fortrea shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Promis Neurosciences beats Fortrea on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Promis Neurosciences

ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. discovers and develops antibody therapies and therapeutic vaccines neurodegenerative diseases and other misfolded protein diseases in Canada. The company’s proprietary discovery platform comprises ProMIS and Collective Coordinates algorithms to predict novel targets known as disease specific epitopes on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Its lead product candidates comprise of PMN310, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for toxic oligomers in AD; PMN267, a TDP-43; and PMN442, a mAb targeting toxic a-syn oligomers and seeding fibrils. The company was formerly known as Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. and changed its name to ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. in July 2015. ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc., a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum. The Enabling Services segment provides patient access and clinical trial technology solutions to customers that streamline complex randomization and optimize the trial drug supply process. The company offers delivery models that include full service, functional service provider, and hybrid service structures. It also offers phase I-IV clinical trial management, differentiated technology enabled trial solutions, and post approval services, as well as consulting services. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device organizations. Fortrea Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 2023 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.