Contrasting ZIVO Bioscience (NASDAQ:ZIVO) and Taysha Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:TSHA)

ZIVO Bioscience (NASDAQ:ZIVO) and Taysha Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:TSHA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ZIVO Bioscience and Taysha Gene Therapies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ZIVO Bioscience	0	1	0	0	2.00
Taysha Gene Therapies	0	0	10	0	3.00

Taysha Gene Therapies has a consensus price target of $6.80, indicating a potential upside of 203.57%. Given Taysha Gene Therapies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Taysha Gene Therapies is more favorable than ZIVO Bioscience.

Volatility & Risk

ZIVO Bioscience has a beta of 0.2, indicating that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Taysha Gene Therapies has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ZIVO Bioscience and Taysha Gene Therapies’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ZIVO Bioscience	$30,000.00	860.60	-$7.78 million	($3.80)	-2.05
Taysha Gene Therapies	$15.45 million	27.11	-$111.57 million	($0.49)	-4.57

ZIVO Bioscience has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Taysha Gene Therapies. Taysha Gene Therapies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZIVO Bioscience, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ZIVO Bioscience and Taysha Gene Therapies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ZIVO Bioscience	-11,068.75%	N/A	-677.15%
Taysha Gene Therapies	-833.60%	-782.81%	-55.24%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

12.8% of ZIVO Bioscience shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Taysha Gene Therapies shares are held by institutional investors. 21.5% of ZIVO Bioscience shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Taysha Gene Therapies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Taysha Gene Therapies beats ZIVO Bioscience on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZIVO Bioscience

ZIVO Bioscience, Inc., a research and development company, engages in licensing and selling natural bioactive ingredients derived from its proprietary algae cultures to animal, human, and dietary supplement and medical food manufacturers. The company operates in the biotech and agtech sectors, with an intellectual property portfolio comprising proprietary algal and bacterial strains, biologically active molecules and complexes, production techniques, cultivation techniques, and patented or patent-pending inventions for applications in human and animal health. Its products indications include poultry gut health, bovine mastitis, canine joint health, human immune modification, algal biomass for human consumption, and biomass for supporting skin health / anti-aging. The company was formerly known as Health Enhancement Products, Inc. and changed its name to ZIVO Bioscience, Inc. in October 2014. ZIVO Bioscience, Inc. is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

About Taysha Gene Therapies

Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc., a gene therapy company, focuses on developing and commercializing adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system. It primarily develops TSHA-120 for the treatment of giant axonal neuropathy; TSHA-102 for the treatment of Rett syndrome; TSHA-121 for the treatment of CLN7 disease; TSHA-118 for the treatment of CLN1 disease; TSHA-105 for the treatment of for SLC13A5 deficiency; TSHA-113 for the treatment of tauopathies; TSHA-106 for the treatment of angelman syndrome; TSHA-114 for the treatment of fragile X syndrome; and TSHA-101 for the treatment of GM2 gangliosidosis. Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. has a strategic partnership with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.