Critical Review: Amarantus BioScience (OTCMKTS:AMBS) & Intra-Cellular Therapies (NASDAQ:ITCI)

Amarantus BioScience (OTCMKTS:AMBS) and Intra-Cellular Therapies (NASDAQ:ITCI) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Amarantus BioScience and Intra-Cellular Therapies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amarantus BioScience	0	0	0	0	N/A
Intra-Cellular Therapies	0	2	11	0	2.85

Intra-Cellular Therapies has a consensus target price of $96.62, suggesting a potential upside of 28.79%. Given Intra-Cellular Therapies’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Intra-Cellular Therapies is more favorable than Amarantus BioScience.

Profitability

This table compares Amarantus BioScience and Intra-Cellular Therapies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amarantus BioScience	N/A	N/A	N/A
Intra-Cellular Therapies	-14.93%	-11.48%	-9.60%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Amarantus BioScience and Intra-Cellular Therapies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amarantus BioScience	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Intra-Cellular Therapies	$563.44 million	14.06	-$139.67 million	($1.16)	-64.67

Amarantus BioScience has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Intra-Cellular Therapies.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.3% of Intra-Cellular Therapies shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.3% of Amarantus BioScience shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Intra-Cellular Therapies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Amarantus BioScience has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intra-Cellular Therapies has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Summary

Amarantus BioScience beats Intra-Cellular Therapies on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amarantus BioScience

Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic product candidates in the areas of neurology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, and regenerative medicine. The company's diagnostic products in development include the lymphocyte proliferation (LymPro) test, a diagnostic blood test for Alzheimer's disease; and MSPrecise, a proprietary DNA sequencing assay for the identification of patients with multiple sclerosis. Its therapeutic products in development comprise Eltoprazine, a small molecule drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease Levadopa-Induced Dyskinesia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders; and mesencephalic-astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor for the treatment of various animal models, including retinitis pigmentosa and retinal artery occlusion. It also develops NuroPro, a neurodegenerative disease diagnostic platform with application in Parkinson's disease; BC-SeraPro, an oncology diagnostic platform with application in breast cancer; and PhenoGuard platform for neurrotrophic factor discovery. In addition, the company develops Engineered Skin Substitute (ESS), a cell therapy-based autologous skin replacement product that is in mid-stage clinical development for the treatment of life-threatening severe burns. Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc. has a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research and Rutgers University. The company was formerly known as Amarantus Bioscience, Inc. and changed its name to Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc. in April 2013. Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Intra-Cellular Therapies

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, clinical development, and commercialization of small molecule drugs that address medical needs primarily in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders by targeting intracellular signaling mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS) in the United States. The company offers CAPLYTA for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar depression in adults. It is also involved in developing Lumateperone, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of various depressive disorders, as well as additional neuropsychiatric indications. In addition, the company is developing Lenrispodun (ITI-214) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, CNS, and other disorders; ITI-1284 for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders and behavioral disturbances in dementia; and ITI-333 for substance use disorders, pain, and psychiatric comorbidities, including depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in New York, New York.