Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS – Get Free Report) and WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
90.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of WAVE Life Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 24.3% of WAVE Life Sciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and WAVE Life Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | -9.02% | -14.19% | -8.89% |
| WAVE Life Sciences | -255.70% | -56.76% | -42.80% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | $451.36 million | 5.96 | -$66.42 million | ($1.14) | -54.81 |
| WAVE Life Sciences | $42.73 million | 30.48 | -$204.38 million | ($1.06) | -6.39 |
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than WAVE Life Sciences. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WAVE Life Sciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and WAVE Life Sciences, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2.78 |
| WAVE Life Sciences | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 2.87 |
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $90.67, suggesting a potential upside of 45.11%. WAVE Life Sciences has a consensus price target of $27.50, suggesting a potential upside of 306.20%. Given WAVE Life Sciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe WAVE Life Sciences is more favorable than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.
Risk & Volatility
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WAVE Life Sciences has a beta of -1.32, indicating that its stock price is 232% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals beats WAVE Life Sciences on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for eye care in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is XDEMVY, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. It is developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other infectious disease prevention. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
About WAVE Life Sciences
Wave Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, designs, develops, and commercializes ribonucleic acid (RNA) medicines through PRISM, a discovery and drug development platform. The company's RNA medicines platform, PRISM, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation, and deep insights into human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders. It is developing WVE-006, a RNA editing oligonucleotide for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; siRNA clinical candidate for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders; WVE-N531, a exon skipping oligonucleotide for the treatment of duchenne muscular dystrophy; and WVE-003, an antisense silencing oligonucleotide for the treatment of Huntington's disease (HD). The company has collaboration agreements with GlaxoSmithKline for the research, development, and commercialization of oligonucleotide therapeutics; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited for the research, development, and commercialization of oligonucleotide therapeutics for disorders of the Central Nervous System; and Asuragen, Inc. for the development and potential commercialization of companion diagnostics for investigational allele-selective therapeutic programs targeting HD. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Singapore.
Receive News & Ratings for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
