Reviewing Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) and Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL)

Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL) and Grail (NASDAQ:GRAL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Personalis and Grail”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Personalis	$87.49 million	4.92	-$108.30 million	($1.68)	-3.63
Grail	$117.67 million	5.37	N/A	N/A	N/A

Grail has higher revenue and earnings than Personalis.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Personalis and Grail, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Personalis	0	0	4	0	3.00
Grail	0	3	0	0	2.00

Personalis presently has a consensus price target of $7.31, indicating a potential upside of 20.07%. Grail has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential downside of 14.94%. Given Personalis’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Personalis is more favorable than Grail.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.9% of Personalis shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Personalis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Personalis and Grail’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Personalis	-104.52%	-66.07%	-41.34%
Grail	N/A	N/A	N/A

About Personalis

Personalis, Inc. develops and markets advanced cancer genomic tests and analytics primarily in the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. Its tests and analytics are used by pharmaceutical companies for translational research, biomarker discovery, and development of personalized cancer therapies, as well as advanced tests are used by physicians to detect cancer recurrence, monitor cancer evolution, and uncover insights for therapy selection. The company offers NeXT Personal, a tumor-informed liquid biopsy test for detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) and recurrence in cancer; and ImmunoID NeXT, a tissue-based test that combines whole exome (DNA) and whole transcriptome (RNA) sequencing data with advanced analytics to provide a multi-dimensional view of the tumor and the tumor microenvironment from a single sample. It also provides NeXT Personal Dx, a tumor-informed liquid biopsy test for detection of MRD and recurrence in cancer; and NeXT Dx, a comprehensive tumor profiling test that unlocks the entire exome (DNA) and transcriptome (RNA) with matched tumor-normal analysis. In addition, the company performs whole exome sequencing (WES) of cancer tissue and matched blood samples for diagnostic companies as an input to their products; and whole genome sequencing (WGS) on human samples for research projects, such as population sequencing initiatives, as well as offers sequencing and data analysis services to support population sequencing initiatives. Its customers include pharmaceutical companies, biopharmaceutical companies, diagnostics companies, universities, non-profits, government entities, and patients. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

About Grail

GRAIL, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on developing technologies for early cancer detection. The company develops Galleri, a screening test for asymptomatic individuals over 50 years of age; and DAC, a diagnostic aid for cancer tests to accelerate diagnostic resolution for patients for whom there is a clinical suspicion of cancer. It is also developing minimal residual disease and other post-diagnostic tests. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Menlo Park, California. GRAIL, Inc. operates as a former subsidiary of Illumina, Inc.