Analyzing aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:LIFE) and Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) and aTyr Pharma (NASDAQ:LIFE) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.7% of Beam Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.7% of aTyr Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Beam Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of aTyr Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Beam Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Beam Therapeutics	$377.71 million	7.14	-$132.53 million	($1.90)	-17.39
aTyr Pharma	$350,000.00	377.46	-$50.39 million	($0.96)	-2.03

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

Risk & Volatility

Beam Therapeutics has a beta of 1.8, indicating that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, aTyr Pharma has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Beam Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Beam Therapeutics	-35.09%	-15.90%	-9.75%
aTyr Pharma	N/A	-49.84%	-39.12%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Beam Therapeutics and aTyr Pharma, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Beam Therapeutics	0	8	5	0	2.38
aTyr Pharma	0	1	3	0	2.75

Beam Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $41.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.09%. aTyr Pharma has a consensus target price of $23.67, suggesting a potential upside of 1,113.68%. Given aTyr Pharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe aTyr Pharma is more favorable than Beam Therapeutics.

About Beam Therapeutics

Beam Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development of precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States. It develops BEAM-101 for the treatment of sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia; and BEAM-302, a liver-targeting LNP formulation to treat severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; BEAM-201, an anti-CD7 CAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma; and BEAM-301, a liver-targeting LNP formulation for the treatment of glycogen storage disease 1a. The company has research collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc., focus on in vivo base editing programs for targets rare genetic diseases of the liver, muscle, and central nervous system; Apellis Pharmaceuticals to conduct preclinical research on target specific genes within the complement system in various organs, including the eye, liver, and brain; Verve Therapeutics, Inc., for cardiovascular disease treatments; Sana Biotechnology, Inc., to research, develop, and commercialize rights to CRISPR Cas12b for cell therapy programs; and Orbital Therapeutics design RNA for the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of human disease. Beam Therapeutics Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About aTyr Pharma

aTyr Pharma, Inc., a biotherapeutics company, engages in the discovery and development of medicines based on novel immunological pathways in the United States. Its lead therapeutic candidate is efzofitimod, a selective modulator of NRP2 that is in Phase III clinical trial for pulmonary sarcoidosis; and in Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for treatment of other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), such as chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and connective tissue disease related ILD. The company is also developing ATYR2810, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody that is in preclinical development for the treatment of solid tumors. It has collaboration and license agreement with Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of efzofitimod for ILDs in Japan. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.