Head-To-Head Review: Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:LONA) & Vor Biopharma (NASDAQ:VOR)

Vor Biopharma (NASDAQ:VOR) and Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:LONA) are both small-cap manufacturing companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.3% of Vor Biopharma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Vor Biopharma shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.8% of Athira Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vor Biopharma and Athira Pharma”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vor Biopharma	N/A	N/A	N/A	($386.83)	-0.04
Athira Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$96.94 million	($9.68)	-0.58

Athira Pharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vor Biopharma, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vor Biopharma	N/A	N/A	N/A
Athira Pharma	N/A	-107.06%	-89.89%

Volatility and Risk

Vor Biopharma has a beta of 2.02, indicating that its stock price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Athira Pharma has a beta of 2.72, indicating that its stock price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Vor Biopharma and Athira Pharma, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vor Biopharma	1	4	6	1	2.58
Athira Pharma	1	0	2	0	2.33

Vor Biopharma presently has a consensus target price of $66.13, suggesting a potential upside of 328.27%. Athira Pharma has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 77.62%. Given Vor Biopharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Vor Biopharma is more favorable than Athira Pharma.

Summary

Vor Biopharma beats Athira Pharma on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vor Biopharma

Vor Biopharma, Inc., a clinical-stage company, develops engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies for cancer patients. It is developing VOR33, an eHSC product candidate that is in phase 1/2 to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other hematological malignancies. The company’s VOR33 eHSCs lacks CD33, a protein that is expressed by AML blood cancer cells. The company’s eHSCs targeted therapies, such as CAR-Ts, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates provide treatment for blood cancers. Vor Biopharma, Inc. has a collaboration agreement with Akron BioProducts to develop and manufacture cGMP nucleases. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Athira Pharma

Athira Pharma, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegradation. The company’s lead product candidate is ATH-1017, a blood brain barrier-penetrating, small molecule HGF/MET positive modulator that is in LIFT-AD Phase 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. It also develops product candidates, which are in preclinical stage, including ATH-1019 for peripheral nervous system indications; and ATH-1020 for neuropsychiatric conditions. 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.