Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) vs. Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) Head-To-Head Analysis

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS – Get Rating) and Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN – Get Rating) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.5% of Exact Sciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Exact Sciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Viridian Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Exact Sciences and Viridian Therapeutics’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Exact Sciences	$1.77 billion	3.69	-$595.63 million	($4.32)	-8.57
Viridian Therapeutics	$2.96 million	102.10	-$79.41 million	($5.76)	-1.88

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Exact Sciences and Viridian Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Exact Sciences	0	3	9	0	2.75
Viridian Therapeutics	0	0	5	0	3.00

Exact Sciences presently has a consensus price target of $101.33, suggesting a potential upside of 173.73%. Viridian Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $34.75, suggesting a potential upside of 221.16%. Given Viridian Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Viridian Therapeutics is more favorable than Exact Sciences.

Profitability

This table compares Exact Sciences and Viridian Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Exact Sciences	-40.26%	-21.82%	-11.23%
Viridian Therapeutics	-5,014.24%	-360.68%	-47.72%

Risk & Volatility

Exact Sciences has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viridian Therapeutics has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Exact Sciences beats Viridian Therapeutics on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

Exact Sciences Company Profile (Get Rating)

Exact Sciences Corporation provides cancer screening and diagnostic test products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Cologuard, a non-invasive stool-based DNA screening test to detect DNA and hemoglobin biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer and pre-cancer. It also provides Oncotype DX, a gene expression tests for breast, prostate, and colon cancers; Oncotype Test, a tissue test delivering tumor profiling to aid therapy selection for patients with advanced, metastatic, refractory, or recurrent cancer; Oncotype DX AR-V7 Nucleus Detect Test, a liquid-based test for advanced stage prostate cancer; Oncomap ExTra, that provides a complete biological picture of certain refractory, rare, or aggressive cancers; and Covid-19 testing services. The company's pipeline products focus on enhancing the Cologuard test's performance characteristics and developing blood and other fluid-based tests. It has license agreements with MAYO Foundation for Medical Education and Research; and Hologic, Inc. Exact Sciences Corporation was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

Viridian Therapeutics Company Profile (Get Rating)

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops treatments for patients suffering from serious diseases. It develops VRDN-001, a humanized monoclonal anti-IGF-1R antibody that is in Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED); VRDN-002, an IGF-1R antibody, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial; and VRDN-003, a therapeutic antibody targeting IGF-1R for the treatment of TED. The company was formerly known as Miragen Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2021. Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

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