Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) Head to Head Review

Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of bluebird bio shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Athira Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of bluebird bio 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Athira Pharma and bluebird bio’s gross 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	-$117.67 million	($3.09)	-0.72
bluebird bio	$21.73 million	5.64	-$266.58 million	($0.74)	-1.51

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Athira Pharma and bluebird bio, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Athira Pharma	0	0	1	0	3.00
bluebird bio	1	6	4	0	2.27

Athira Pharma presently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 440.54%. bluebird bio has a consensus price target of $5.74, indicating a potential upside of 412.90%. Given Athira Pharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Athira Pharma is more favorable than bluebird bio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Athira Pharma	N/A	-69.11%	-59.90%
bluebird bio	-419.64%	-34.32%	-14.44%

Risk & Volatility

Athira Pharma has a beta of 2.83, indicating that its stock price is 183% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, bluebird bio has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Athira Pharma beats bluebird bio on 7 of the 13 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 Fosgonimeton (ATH-1017), a small molecule designed to modulate the neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) system 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 dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies. 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 oral small molecule drug candidate, 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. The company was formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, Inc. and changed its name to Athira Pharma, Inc. in April 2019. Athira Pharma, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.

About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc., a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. The company's clinical development programs include HGB-205, HGB-206, and HGB-210 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lovo-cel in the treatment of patients with SCD; and HGB-204, HGB-205, HGB-207, and HGB-212 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of beti-cel in the treatment of patients with ß-thalassemia. It has license agreement with Orchard Therapeutics Limited. The company was formerly known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and changed its name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010. bluebird bio, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts.