Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) vs. Daré Bioscience (NASDAQ:DARE) Critical Contrast

Daré Bioscience (NASDAQ:DARE) and Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Daré Bioscience and Atea Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Daré Bioscience	$1.88 million	14.52	-$30.16 million	($0.59)	-5.32
Atea Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$135.96 million	($2.07)	-1.46

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

Risk & Volatility

Daré Bioscience has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atea Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Daré Bioscience and Atea Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Daré Bioscience	0	1	2	0	2.67
Atea Pharmaceuticals	0	1	0	1	3.00

Daré Bioscience presently has a consensus target price of $24.00, indicating a potential upside of 664.33%. Atea Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $6.88, indicating a potential upside of 127.06%. Given Daré Bioscience’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Daré Bioscience is more favorable than Atea Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Daré Bioscience and Atea Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Daré Bioscience	-191.65%	N/A	-18.98%
Atea Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-34.90%	-32.38%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.7% of Daré Bioscience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Atea Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Daré Bioscience shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of Atea Pharmaceuticals shares are owned 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

Daré Bioscience beats Atea Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Daré Bioscience

Daré Bioscience, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, identifies, develops, and markets products for women's health in the United States. It develops therapies in the areas of contraception, reproductive health, menopause, fertility, and sexual and vaginal health. The company offers XACIATO for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis in female patients 12 years of age and older. It is developing Ovaprene, a hormone-free, monthly intravaginal contraceptive; Sildenafil Cream, a cream formulation of sildenafil for topical administration to the female genitalia on demand for the treatment of female sexual arousal disorder; DARE-HRT1 to treat moderate to-severe vasomotor symptoms in menopausal hormone therapy; DARE-VVA1 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe dyspareunia or pain during sexual intercourse; and DARE-CIN to treat cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and other human papillomavirus related pathologies. The company is also developing DARE-PDM1 for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea; DARE-204 and DARE-214, an injectable formulations contraception of etonogestrel designed to provide contraception over 6-month and 12-month periods; DARE-FRT1, an intravaginal ring designed to deliver bio-identical progesterone for luteal phase support as part of an in vitro fertilization treatment plan; and DARE-PTB1 for the prevention of preterm birth. In addition, it is developing DARE-LARC1, a contraceptive implant delivering levonorgestrel with a woman-centered design that controlled contraceptive option; DARE-LBT, a novel hydrogel formulation for vaginal delivery of live biotherapeutics to support vaginal health; DARE-GML, a multi-target antimicrobial agent; DARE-RH1, a novel approach to non-hormonal contraception for men and women by targeting the CatSper ion channel; and DARE-PTB2 for the prevention and treatment of idiopathic preterm birth through inhibition of a stress response protein. Daré Bioscience, Inc. is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Atea Pharmaceuticals

Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes antiviral therapeutics for patients with viral infections. Its lead product candidate is AT-527, an oral antiviral candidate that is in Phase 3 SUNRISE-3 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. The company also develops bemnifosbuvir in combination with ruzasvir, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV); and a protease inhibitor for the treatment of COVID-19. It has a license agreement with MSD International GmbH for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of Ruzasvir, an NS5A inhibitor, for the treatment of HCV. Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.