Comparing Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) and MIRA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRA)

MIRA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIRA) and Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

MIRA Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Athira Pharma has a beta of 2.79, indicating that its share price is 179% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MIRA Pharmaceuticals and Athira Pharma”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MIRA Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$7.85 million	($1.53)	-0.76
Athira Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$96.94 million	($9.68)	-0.55

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.2% of MIRA Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 6.7% of MIRA Pharmaceuticals 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MIRA Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-236.29%	-213.97%
Athira Pharma	N/A	-107.06%	-89.89%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for MIRA Pharmaceuticals and Athira Pharma, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MIRA Pharmaceuticals	1	0	1	0	2.00
Athira Pharma	1	0	0	0	1.00

Athira Pharma has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential downside of 24.53%. Given Athira Pharma’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Athira Pharma is more favorable than MIRA Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Athira Pharma beats MIRA Pharmaceuticals on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MIRA Pharmaceuticals

MIRA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a pre-clinical-stage pharmaceutical development company with two neuroscience programs targeting a range of neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders. The company holds exclusive U.S., Canadian, and Mexican rights for Ketamir-2, a patent pending oral ketamine analog under investigation to deliver ultra-rapid antidepressant effects for individuals battling treatment-resistant depression, major depressive disorder with suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, its oral pharmaceutical marijuana, MIRA-55, is under investigation for treating adult patients suffering from anxiety and cognitive decline, often associated with early-stage dementia. The company was formerly known as MIRA1a Therapeutics, Inc. MIRA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

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.