Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN) & Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) Critical Review

Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN) and Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RIGL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Risk and Volatility

Aileron Therapeutics has a beta of 2.15, suggesting that its share price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Aileron Therapeutics and Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aileron Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$27.33 million	N/A	N/A
Rigel Pharmaceuticals	$120.24 million	1.30	-$58.57 million	($0.14)	-6.41

Aileron Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Rigel Pharmaceuticals.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Aileron Therapeutics and Rigel Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aileron Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	N/A
Rigel Pharmaceuticals	0	1	2	0	2.67

Rigel Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $6.67, indicating a potential upside of 642.39%. Given Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rigel Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Aileron Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Aileron Therapeutics and Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aileron Therapeutics	N/A	-83.80%	-72.25%
Rigel Pharmaceuticals	-18.45%	N/A	-19.93%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.5% of Aileron Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.5% of Rigel Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Aileron Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Rigel Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Rigel Pharmaceuticals beats Aileron Therapeutics on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aileron Therapeutics

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a clinical stage chemoprotection oncology company in the United States. The company is developing ALRN-6924, which is in Phase 1 trial for solid tumor and lymphoma; Phase 2a clinical trial to treat peripheral T-cell lymphoma; Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); Phase 1b trial to test the combination of ALRN-6924 and cytarabine, or Ara-C, in patients with MDS; and a Phase 2a combination trial of ALRN-6924 and palbociclib in patients with tumors harboring MDM2 amplifications co-amplifications, as well as for patients with p53-mutated small cell lung cancer that has completed Phase 1b clinical trial. The company was formerly known as Renegade Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2007. Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Rigel Pharmaceuticals

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in discovering, developing, and providing therapies that enhance the lives of patients with hematologic disorders and cancer. The company's commercialized products include Tavalisse, an oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia; and Rezlidhia, a non-intensive monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. It also develops Fostamatinib that has conducted phase III clinical trials for the treatment of warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia; has completed FOCUS phase III clinical trial for the treatment of hospitalized high-risk patients COVID-19; and that is in phase II/III clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. In addition, the company's other clinical programs include interleukin receptor-associated kinase inhibitor program and a receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase inhibitor program in clinical development with partner Eli Lilly and Company. Further, it has product candidates in clinical development with partners BerGenBio ASA and Daiichi Sankyo. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.