Contrasting Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) and Opus Genetics (NASDAQ:IRD)

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) and Opus Genetics (NASDAQ:IRD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Wave Life Sciences and Opus Genetics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wave Life Sciences	0	1	7	1	3.00
Opus Genetics	0	0	1	0	3.00

Wave Life Sciences currently has a consensus target price of $22.22, suggesting a potential upside of 85.03%. Opus Genetics has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 601.75%. Given Opus Genetics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Opus Genetics is more favorable than Wave Life Sciences.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.7% of Wave Life Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.0% of Opus Genetics shares are held by institutional investors. 29.1% of Wave Life Sciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Opus Genetics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Wave Life Sciences has a beta of -1.07, indicating that its share price is 207% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Opus Genetics has a beta of 0.16, indicating that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Wave Life Sciences and Opus Genetics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wave Life Sciences	$53.61 million	34.17	-$57.51 million	($1.11)	-10.82
Opus Genetics	$19.05 million	1.89	-$9.99 million	($1.09)	-1.05

Opus Genetics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Wave Life Sciences. Wave Life Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Opus Genetics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Wave Life Sciences and Opus Genetics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wave Life Sciences	-66.50%	-280.57%	-52.90%
Opus Genetics	-324.45%	-63.65%	-56.94%

Summary

Wave Life Sciences beats Opus Genetics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Opus Genetics

Opus Genetics Inc. is a clinical-stage ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of unmet needs of patients with refractive and retinal eye disorders. Opus Genetics Inc., formerly known as Ocuphire Pharma Inc., is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan.