Head to Head Contrast: Gain Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GANX) vs. Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

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

Volatility & Risk

Gain Therapeutics has a beta of 0.06, indicating that its share price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gain Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$20.41 million	($0.61)	-2.92
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$705.00 million	19.08	-$453.90 million	($1.69)	-49.15

Gain Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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 and price targets for Gain Therapeutics and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

Gain Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $8.67, indicating a potential upside of 386.89%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $86.45, indicating a potential upside of 4.07%. Given Gain Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Gain Therapeutics is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

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

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.0% of Gain Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Gain Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats Gain Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.