Comparing Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and Arcellx (NASDAQ:ACLX)

Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and Arcellx (NASDAQ:ACLX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Athira Pharma and Arcellx’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Athira Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$95.64 million	($2.83)	-0.55
Arcellx	$32.21 million	68.01	-$188.68 million	($3.96)	-11.44

Athira Pharma has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Arcellx. Arcellx is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Athira Pharma, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Athira Pharma has a beta of 2.79, suggesting that its share price is 179% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arcellx has a beta of -0.57, suggesting that its share price is 157% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Athira Pharma and Arcellx, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Athira Pharma	0	0	2	0	3.00
Arcellx	0	0	12	0	3.00

Athira Pharma currently has a consensus price target of $11.33, suggesting a potential upside of 631.18%. Arcellx has a consensus price target of $53.31, suggesting a potential upside of 17.68%. Given Athira Pharma’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Athira Pharma is more favorable than Arcellx.

Profitability

This table compares Athira Pharma and Arcellx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Athira Pharma	N/A	-48.23%	-44.28%
Arcellx	N/A	-46.20%	-25.29%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.7% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 14.9% of Athira Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Arcellx shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Athira Pharma beats Arcellx on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Athira Pharma

Athira Pharma, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegradation. Its lead product candidate is ATH-1017 Fosgonimeton, a small molecule designed to enhance the activity of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, MET, for a healthy nervous system that is in LIFT-AD Phase 2/3 and ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, as well as is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat Parkinson's disease. The company's product pipeline includes ATH-1020, an orally available brain-penetrant small molecule designed to enhance the HGF/MET system that is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases; and ATH-1105, an orally available, brain-penetrant small molecule positive modulator of HGF/MET which is a preclinical model for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In addition, it has a license agreement with Washington State University to offer for sale products covered by certain licensed patents, including dihexa, the chemical compound into which fosgonimeton metabolizes following administration; and collaboration and grant agreement with National Institutes of Health Grant to support ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trial for fosgonimeton. Athira Pharma, Inc. was formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, Inc. and changed its name to Athira Pharma, Inc. in April 2019. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.

About Arcellx

Arcellx, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the development of various immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases. The company's lead ddCAR product candidate is CART-ddBCMA, which is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) multiple myeloma (MM). It is also developing ACLX-001, an immunotherapeutic combination composed of ARC-T cells and bi-valent SparX proteins targeting BCMA to treat r/r MM; ACLX-002 and ACLX-003 for treating r/r acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); and product candidates for solid tumor programs. It has strategic alliance with Kite Pharma, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize CART-ddBCMA. The company was formerly known as Encarta Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Arcellx, Inc. in January 2016. Arcellx, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.