Analyzing MusclePharm (OTCMKTS:MSLP) & Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT)

MusclePharm (OTCMKTS:MSLP) and Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MusclePharm	$50.04 million	0.00	-$12.87 million	($0.58)	N/A
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$245.60 million	($2.75)	-3.81

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

Volatility and Risk

MusclePharm has a beta of -0.07, indicating that its share price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MusclePharm	-38.51%	N/A	-169.56%
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-62.62%	-54.17%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

15.5% of MusclePharm shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.4% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 60.7% of MusclePharm shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 28.5% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MusclePharm	0	0	0	0	0.00
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	0	1	11	0	2.92

Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $47.27, suggesting a potential upside of 351.51%. Given Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rocket Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than MusclePharm.

Summary

Rocket Pharmaceuticals beats MusclePharm on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MusclePharm

MusclePharm Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements in the United States and internationally. The company offers a range of performance powders, capsules, tablets, gels, and on-the-go ready to eat snacks. Its MusclePharm brand product portfolio includes combat protein powder and combat crunch protein bars; and essential supplements, such as a BCAA, creatine, glutamine, carnitine, CLA, fish oil, multi-vitamin, and other products. The company also provides FitMiss branded sports nutrition products, which are formulated primarily for the female body to support women in the areas of weight management, lean muscle mass, body composition, and general health and wellness; and functional energy beverages under the Combat Energy and FitMiss Energy brands. It sells its products to various athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a late-stage biotechnology company that focuses on developing gene therapies for rare and devastating diseases. It has three clinical-stage ex vivo lentiviral vector programs for fanconi anemia, a genetic defect in the bone marrow that reduces production of blood cells or promotes the production of faulty blood cells; leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, a genetic disorder that causes the immune system to malfunction; and pyruvate kinase deficiency, a rare red blood cell autosomal recessive disorder that results in chronic non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia. The company also has a clinical stage in vivo adeno-associated virus program for Danon disease, a multi-organ lysosomal-associated disorder leading to early death due to heart failure; Plakophilin-2 Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy, an inheritable cardiac disorder; and BAG3 Dilated Cardiomyopathy. It has license agreements with Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Centro de Investigacion Biomedica En Red, and Fundacion Instituto de investigacion Sanitaria Fundacion Jimenez Diaz; UCL Business PLC; The Regents of the University of California; and REGENXBIO, Inc. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Cranbury, New Jersey.