Analyzing Monte Rosa Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GLUE) and Axcella Health (NASDAQ:AXLA)

Monte Rosa Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GLUE) and Axcella Health (NASDAQ:AXLA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Axcella Health’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Monte Rosa Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$108.50 million	($2.57)	-2.34
Axcella Health	N/A	N/A	-$81.19 million	($0.77)	-0.14

Monte Rosa Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Axcella Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Axcella Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Monte Rosa Therapeutics	N/A	-49.15%	-38.93%
Axcella Health	N/A	-3,888.62%	-259.91%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.5% of Monte Rosa Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.6% of Axcella Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Monte Rosa Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Axcella Health shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Monte Rosa Therapeutics has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Axcella Health has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Axcella Health, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Monte Rosa Therapeutics	0	1	2	0	2.67
Axcella Health	0	2	2	0	2.50

Monte Rosa Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 182.86%. Axcella Health has a consensus price target of $5.25, indicating a potential upside of 4,672.73%. Given Axcella Health’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Axcella Health is more favorable than Monte Rosa Therapeutics.

Summary

Axcella Health beats Monte Rosa Therapeutics on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Monte Rosa Therapeutics

Monte Rosa Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the development of novel small molecule precision medicines that employ the body's natural mechanisms to selectively degrade therapeutically relevant proteins. The company develops an orally bioavailable molecular glue degrader for GSPT1, a a translation termination factor for the treatment of Myc-driven cancers. It also develops CDK2 to treat ovarian, uterine, and breast cancers; NEK7 for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as gout and Crohn's disease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, and liver disease; VAV1, a target protein for autoimmune diseases; and a therapeutically-relevant protein in hemoglobinopathies. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Axcella Health

Axcella Health Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company in the United States. The company treats complex diseases using endogenous metabolic modulators. Its product pipeline includes AXA1125 that is in Phase 2a clinical trial for long COVID therapy for patients, as well as Phase 2b clinical trial for treating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; and AXA1665, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence. The company was formerly known as Newco LS16, Inc. and changed its name to Axcella Health Inc. in June 2016. Axcella Health Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.