Financial Comparison: ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) versus Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA)

Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) and ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vanda Pharmaceuticals and ARS Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	$215.72 million	1.30	-$220.47 million	($4.63)	-1.00
ARS Pharmaceuticals	$116.93 million	3.46	-$171.30 million	($2.18)	-1.87

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Vanda Pharmaceuticals and ARS Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	1	2	6	0	2.56
ARS Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	0	2.50

Vanda Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $13.08, suggesting a potential upside of 182.58%. ARS Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 514.25%. Given ARS Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARS Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Vanda Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Vanda Pharmaceuticals and ARS Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vanda Pharmaceuticals	-127.41%	-49.81%	-33.29%
ARS Pharmaceuticals	-184.24%	-256.67%	-69.63%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.1% of Vanda Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.2% of ARS Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 10.7% of Vanda Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 33.8% of ARS Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Vanda Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARS Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vanda Pharmaceuticals beats ARS Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vanda Pharmaceuticals

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies to address high unmet medical needs worldwide. The company’s marketed products include HETLIOZ to treat non-24-hour sleep-wake disorders; and Fanapt oral tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia. Its pipeline products include HETLIOZ (tasimelteon) to treat jet lag disorder, insomnia, delayed sleep phase disorder, sleep disturbances in autism spectrum disorder, and pediatric Non-24; Fanapt (iloperidone) for the treatment of bipolar I disorder and Parkinson’s disease psychosis, as well as a long acting injectable (LAI) formulation to treat schizophrenia; and Tradipitant (VLY-686), a small molecule neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist to treat gastroparesis, motion sickness, atopic dermatitis, and COVID-19 pneumonia. The company’s pipeline products also include VTR-297, a small molecule histone deacetylase inhibitor to treat hematologic malignancies and with potential use as a treatment for various oncology indications; VQW-765, a small molecule nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist to treat performance anxiety and psychiatric disorders; VHX-896, an active metabolite of iloperidone; and antisense oligonucleotide molecules. In addition, it offers a portfolio of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator activators and inhibitors that include VSJ-110 for the treatment of dry eye and ocular inflammation; and VPO-227 for the treatment of secretory diarrhea disorders comprising cholera. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.

About ARS Pharmaceuticals

ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops treatments for severe allergic reactions. The company is developing neffy, a needle-free and low-dose intranasal epinephrine nasal spray for the emergency treatment of Type I allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. It serves healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers. ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.