Financial Analysis: Ascend Wellness (OTC:AAWH) & Bright Green (NASDAQ:BGXX)

Ascend Wellness (OTC:AAWH) and Bright Green (NASDAQ:BGXX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascend Wellness	-15.47%	-72.18%	-9.55%
Bright Green	N/A	-88.37%	-55.30%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascend Wellness and Bright Green”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascend Wellness	$518.59 million	0.13	-$48.21 million	($0.40)	-0.80
Bright Green	N/A	N/A	-$13.13 million	($0.06)	N/A

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ascend Wellness and Bright Green, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascend Wellness	0	1	0	1	3.00
Bright Green	0	0	0	0	0.00

Given Bright Green’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bright Green is more favorable than Ascend Wellness.

Risk and Volatility

Ascend Wellness has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bright Green has a beta of -0.26, meaning that its share price is 126% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.3% of Ascend Wellness shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.8% of Bright Green shares are held by institutional investors. 22.4% of Ascend Wellness shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 62.5% of Bright Green shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ascend Wellness beats Bright Green on 8 of the 13 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 Bright Green

Bright Green Corporation focuses on the cultivation, manufacture, and sale of cannabis and cannabis-related products. Its products are used in research, pharmaceutical applications, and affiliated exports. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Grants, New Mexico.