Reviewing Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) and Sorrento Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:SRNEQ)

Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) and Sorrento Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:SRNEQ) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Cellectis has a beta of 3.09, indicating that its stock price is 209% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sorrento Therapeutics has a beta of 2.25, indicating that its stock price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Cellectis and Sorrento Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cellectis	0	0	3	0	3.00
Sorrento Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Cellectis presently has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 284.62%. Given Cellectis’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Cellectis is more favorable than Sorrento Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

63.9% of Cellectis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of Cellectis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cellectis and Sorrento Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cellectis	$29.07 million	3.48	-$101.06 million	($1.30)	-1.40
Sorrento Therapeutics	$62.84 million	0.01	-$572.84 million	N/A	N/A

Cellectis has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Sorrento Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Cellectis and Sorrento Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cellectis	-234.39%	-74.55%	-22.65%
Sorrento Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Cellectis beats Sorrento Therapeutics on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cellectis

Cellectis S.A., a clinical stage biotechnological company, develops immuno-oncology products based on gene-edited T-cells that express chimeric antigen receptors to target and eradicate cancer cells. The company is developing UCART19, an allogeneic T-cell product candidate for the treatment of CD19-expressing hematologic malignancies, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia; ALLO-501 and ALLO-501A to treat relapsed or refractory for non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL); and ALLO-715 for the treatment of multiple myeloma. It also develops UCART22 to treat B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia; UCARTCS1 and ALLO-605 for the treatment of multiple myeloma; ALLO-316 for renal cell carcinoma; UCART123 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia; and UCART 20×22 for relapsed or refractory B-Cell NHL. The company has strategic alliances with Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. and Les Laboratoires Servier; research collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Iovance Biotherapeutics; and collaboration and license agreement with Cytovia, as well as a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to develop novel cell and gene therapy candidate products. Cellectis S.A. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About Sorrento Therapeutics

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical and commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of next-generation treatments for three therapeutic areas: cancer, infectious disease,and pain. It operates through two segments, Sorrento Therapeutics and Scilex. The company provides cancer therapeutic by leveraging its proprietary G-MAB antibody library and targeted delivery modalities, which include chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), dimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and antibody drug conjugate, as well as bispecific antibody approach; and Sofusa, a drug delivery technology that deliver biologic directly into the lymphatic system. Its clinical programs in development include anti-CD38 CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, as well as for amyloidosis and graft versus host disease. The company develops resiniferatoxin, a non-opioid-based TRPV1 agonist neurotoxin for late stage cancer and osteoarthritis pain treatment; and ZTlido, a lidocaine topical system for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. It engages in the development of SEMDEXA, an injectable viscous gel formulation, which is Phase III trial for the treatment of sciatica, a pathology of low back pain; SP-103, an investigational non-aqueous lidocaine topical system undergoing clinical development in chronic low back pain condition; and SP-104, a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride formulation for the treatment of fibromyalgia. It has collaboration with SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. to develop gene-encoded antibody vaccine to protect against COVID-19; and Mayo Clinic for Phase Ib pilot study using sofusa lymphatic drug delivery technology to deliver Ipilimumab in patient with melanoma. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in San Diego, California. On February 13, 2023, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., along with its affiliate, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The plan was later approved as Chapter 11 liquidation on November 30, 2023.