Head to Head Survey: Ascend Wellness (OTCMKTS:AAWH) versus Sunshine Biopharma (NASDAQ:SBFM)

Ascend Wellness (OTCMKTS:AAWH) and Sunshine Biopharma (NASDAQ:SBFM) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ascend Wellness and Sunshine Biopharma”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascend Wellness	$500.58 million	0.17	-$118.19 million	($0.57)	-0.76
Sunshine Biopharma	$36.31 million	0.05	-$5.97 million	($10.15)	-0.04

Sunshine Biopharma has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ascend Wellness. Ascend Wellness is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sunshine Biopharma, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Ascend Wellness and Sunshine Biopharma, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascend Wellness	0	1	0	0	2.00
Sunshine Biopharma	1	1	0	0	1.50

Volatility & Risk

Ascend Wellness has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunshine Biopharma has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.3% of Ascend Wellness shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.0% of Sunshine Biopharma shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.9% of Ascend Wellness shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Sunshine Biopharma shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Ascend Wellness and Sunshine Biopharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascend Wellness	-23.31%	N/A	-10.85%
Sunshine Biopharma	-17.94%	-26.36%	-20.60%

Summary

Ascend Wellness beats Sunshine Biopharma on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascend Wellness

Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. engages in the cultivation, manufacture, and distribution of cannabis consumer packaged goods in the United States. The company offers flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, vapes, edibles, tinctures, and other cannabis-related products under the Common Goods, SimplyHerb, Ozone, Ozone Reserve, Royale, Tunnel Vision, Miss Grass, Lowell Smokes, Edie Parker, 1906, and AiroPro brands. It also owns, operates, and manages cannabis cultivation facilities and dispensaries. The company sells its products through company-owned retail stores and third-party licensed retail cannabis stores. Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Sunshine Biopharma

Sunshine Biopharma, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, focuses on the research and development of life-saving medicines in various therapeutic areas, including oncology and antivirals in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Prescription Generic Pharmaceuticals and Nonprescription Over-The-Counter Products. The company is developing SBFM-PL4, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of SARS coronavirus infections; Adva-27a, a small chemotherapy molecule to treat pancreatic cancer; and K1.1 mRNA, a lipid nano-particle for liver cancer. It also offers Essential 9, an amino acids capsules; Calcium-Vitamin D supplement under the Essential Calcium-Vitamin D brand name; and L-Citrulline and Taurine products. In addition, the company provides various generic prescription drugs for osteoporosis, cardiovascular, antipsychotic, antibacterial, hypertension, anti-inflammatory, allergy, antibiotic, central nervous system, diabetes, urology, antifungal, antimalarial, oncology, gastroenterology, and anticonvulsant indications. Sunshine Biopharma, Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.