Critical Contrast: Gain Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GANX) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Gain Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GANX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.0% of Gain Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.2% of Gain Therapeutics shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Gain Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$705.00 million	19.18	-$453.90 million	($1.69)	-49.40
Gain Therapeutics	$50,000.00	1,246.10	-$20.41 million	($0.61)	-2.66

Gain Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gain Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Gain Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	3	16	1	2.81
Gain Therapeutics	1	0	6	0	2.71

Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $86.45, suggesting a potential upside of 3.56%. Gain Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $8.67, suggesting a potential upside of 434.98%. Given Gain Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Gain Therapeutics is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Risk and Volatility

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gain Therapeutics has a beta of 0.05, indicating that its stock price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Gain Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-26.45%	-44.26%	-8.65%
Gain Therapeutics	N/A	-341.32%	-174.09%

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats Gain Therapeutics on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR; Olezarsen for patients with FCS and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus. In addition, the company develops IONIS-FB-LRx to inhibit the production of complement factor B and the alternative complement pathway; and ION224 to reduce the production of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with Metagenomi, Inc, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis, Roche, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, and PTC Therapeutics. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.

About Gain Therapeutics

Gain Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops novel small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases across various therapeutic areas. Its drug discovery platform Magellan discovers novel allosteric binding sites in a disease; identifies proprietary small molecules that bind these sites to modulate protein function; and treats the underlying cause of the disease. The company's lead drug candidate, GT-02287 for the treatment of GBA1 Parkinson's disease is being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trials. It also has various small molecule drug candidates, which are in the discovery, research, and preclinical stages for the treatment of Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Alzhiemer's Disease, Gaucher, GM1 Gangliosidosis, Krabbe Disease, Alpha1-Antitrypsun deficiency, and solid tumors. Gain Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.