Comparing Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP)

Mesoblast (NASDAQ:MESO) and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Mesoblast and CRISPR Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mesoblast	N/A	N/A	N/A
CRISPR Therapeutics	-1,229.43%	-20.05%	-17.09%

Volatility & Risk

Mesoblast has a beta of 2.26, meaning that its share price is 126% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CRISPR Therapeutics has a beta of 1.81, meaning that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.4% of Mesoblast shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.2% of CRISPR Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 18.8% of Mesoblast shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of CRISPR Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Mesoblast and CRISPR Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesoblast	0	1	2	2	3.20
CRISPR Therapeutics	1	7	9	0	2.47

Mesoblast presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.20%. CRISPR Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $71.60, suggesting a potential upside of 35.97%. Given Mesoblast’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Mesoblast is more favorable than CRISPR Therapeutics.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Mesoblast and CRISPR Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesoblast	$5.90 million	284.64	-$87.96 million	N/A	N/A
CRISPR Therapeutics	$37.31 million	128.37	-$366.25 million	($5.43)	-9.70

Mesoblast has higher earnings, but lower revenue than CRISPR Therapeutics.

Summary

Mesoblast beats CRISPR Therapeutics on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mesoblast

Mesoblast Limited engages in the development of regenerative medicine products in Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Switzerland. The company offers products in the areas of cardiovascular, spine orthopedic disorder, oncology, hematology, and immune-mediated and inflammatory diseases. Its proprietary regenerative medicine technology platform is based on specialized cells known as mesenchymal lineage cells. The company offers Remestemcel-L that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of systemic inflammatory diseases, including steroid refractory acute graft versus host disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and biologic refractory inflammatory bowel disease; and Remestemcel-L, which is in Phase III clinical trials to treat chronic heart failure and chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease. It is also developing MPC-300-IV to treat biologic refractory rheumatoid arthritis diabetic nephropathy; and MPC-25-IC for the treatment or prevention of acute myocardial infarction. It has strategic partnerships with Tasly Pharmaceutical Group to offer MPC-150-IM for heart failure and MPC-25-IC for heart attacks in China; JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to treat wound healing in patients with epidermolysis bullosa; and Grünenthal to develops and commercializes cell therapy for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics is a gene-editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases. To accelerate and expand its efforts, CRISPR Therapeutics has established strategic collaborations with companies including Bayer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte, Inc. CRISPR Therapeutics AG is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., and R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and business offices in San Francisco, California and London, United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.crisprtx.com.