Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS – Get Rating) and Icosavax (NASDAQ:ICVX – Get Rating) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Icosavax's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
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| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | -324.99% | -31.56% | -28.14% |
| Icosavax | -1,326.23% | -35.68% | -34.24% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Icosavax's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | $57.03 million | 7.78 | -$13.83 million | ($2.70) | -6.16 |
| Icosavax | $7.80 million | 37.79 | -$66.97 million | ($2.93) | -2.53 |
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Icosavax. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icosavax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
70.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Icosavax shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.1% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 39.1% of Icosavax shares are owned by company 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.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Icosavax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3.25 |
| Icosavax | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 |
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $52.75, suggesting a potential upside of 217.01%. Icosavax has a consensus target price of $37.90, suggesting a potential upside of 410.78%. Given Icosavax's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Icosavax is more favorable than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.
Summary
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals beats Icosavax on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals
(Get Rating)
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for ophthalmic conditions. Its lead product candidate is TP-03, a novel therapeutic that is in Phase III for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. The company is also developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other diseases. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
About Icosavax
(Get Rating)
Icosavax, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops vaccines against infectious diseases. The company, with the help of its virus-like particle (VLP) platform technology, focuses primarily on life-threatening respiratory diseases. Its products in pipeline include IVX-121, a vaccine candidate with RSV target and is under Phase 1/1b clinical trial; IVX-A12, a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) monovalent antigen candidate with RSV/human metapneumovirus (hMPV) bivalent target indication; IVX-241, a vaccine candidate with hMPV target; and IVX-411, an original receptor binding domain (RBD) sequence antigen with SARS-CoV-2 target indication and is under Phase 1/2 clinical trial. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
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