Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) versus Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA) Critical Contrast

Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA) and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Genocea Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genocea Biosciences	0	0	0	0	N/A
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	0	1	5	1	3.00

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $51.60, suggesting a potential upside of 52.26%.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.6% of Genocea Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Genocea Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Genocea Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genocea Biosciences	N/A	-182.88%	-62.76%
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	-180.00%	-63.99%	-47.64%

Volatility & Risk

Genocea Biosciences has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Genocea Biosciences and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Genocea Biosciences	$1.91 million	0.00	-$33.20 million	($0.61)	N/A
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	$83.37 million	15.36	-$135.89 million	($4.77)	-7.10

Genocea Biosciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Genocea Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals beats Genocea Biosciences on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Genocea Biosciences

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops novel cancer immunotherapies. The company uses its proprietary discovery platform, ATLAS, which profiles each patient's CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune responses to every target or antigen identified by next-generation sequencing of that patient's tumor. Its products include GEN-011, an adoptive T cell therapy, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors; and GEN-009, a neoantigen vaccine candidate, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials that delivers adjuvanted synthetic long peptides spanning ATLAS-identified anti-tumor neoantigens. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On July 5, 2022, Genocea Biosciences, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.

About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for eye care in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is XDEMVY, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. It is developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other infectious disease prevention. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.