Reviewing COMPASS Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS) and Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR)

COMPASS Pathways (NASDAQ:CMPS) and Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.2% of COMPASS Pathways shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.6% of Icon shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of COMPASS Pathways shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 44.0% of Icon shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

COMPASS Pathways has a beta of 2.21, suggesting that its share price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Icon has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for COMPASS Pathways and Icon, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COMPASS Pathways	0	1	6	0	2.86
Icon	0	8	9	2	2.68

COMPASS Pathways currently has a consensus price target of $16.29, suggesting a potential upside of 170.98%. Icon has a consensus price target of $217.33, suggesting a potential upside of 12.63%. Given COMPASS Pathways’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe COMPASS Pathways is more favorable than Icon.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares COMPASS Pathways and Icon”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COMPASS Pathways	N/A	N/A	-$155.12 million	($1.84)	-3.27
Icon	$8.28 billion	1.88	$791.47 million	$9.72	19.85

Icon has higher revenue and earnings than COMPASS Pathways. COMPASS Pathways is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares COMPASS Pathways and Icon’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COMPASS Pathways	N/A	-87.89%	-57.77%
Icon	9.82%	10.95%	6.23%

Summary

Icon beats COMPASS Pathways on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About COMPASS Pathways

COMPASS Pathways plc operates as a mental health care company in the United Kingdom and the United States. It develops COMP360, a psilocybin therapy that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression; and is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and anorexia nervosa. The company was formerly known as COMPASS Rx Limited and changed its name to COMPASS Pathways plc in August 2020. COMPASS Pathways plc was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Icon

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It also offers clinical development services, including all phases of development, peri and post approval, data solutions, and site and patient access services; clinical trial management, consulting, and contract staffing services; and commercial services comprising clinical development strategy, planning and trial design, full study execution, and post-market commercialization. In addition, the company provides laboratory services, including bionanalytical, biomarker, vaccine, good manufacturing practice, and central laboratory services, as well as full-service and functional service partnerships to customers. Further, it offers adaptive trials, cardiac safety solutions, clinical and scientific operations, consulting and advisory, commercial positioning, decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, early clinical, laboratories, language services, medical imaging, real world intelligence, site and patient, and strategic solutions. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. ICON Public Limited Company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.