Galecto (NASDAQ:GLTO) and Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) Financial Review

Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) and Galecto (NASDAQ:GLTO) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Avidity Biosciences has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Galecto has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Avidity Biosciences and Galecto’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avidity Biosciences	-2,634.59%	-37.70%	-33.70%
Galecto	N/A	-147.05%	-111.33%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.2% of Galecto shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Avidity Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.5% of Galecto shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Avidity Biosciences and Galecto”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avidity Biosciences	$10.90 million	996.29	-$322.30 million	($4.18)	-17.24
Galecto	N/A	N/A	-$21.44 million	($12.10)	-1.76

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Avidity Biosciences and Galecto, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avidity Biosciences	1	14	8	0	2.30
Galecto	1	0	1	0	2.00

Avidity Biosciences presently has a consensus target price of $69.57, suggesting a potential downside of 3.47%. Galecto has a consensus target price of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 69.33%. Given Galecto’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Galecto is more favorable than Avidity Biosciences.

Summary

Galecto beats Avidity Biosciences on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avidity Biosciences

Avidity Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the delivery of RNA therapeutics. It develops antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) that are designed to treat diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics. The company's lead product candidate AOC 1001 for the treatment of myotonic dystrophy type 1, a rare monogenic muscle disease that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial. Its other products in pipeline include AOC 1044 for the treatment of duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is under phase 1/2 clinical development trial; and AOC 1020 to treat facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy that is in phase 1/2 clinical trial. The company is developing products for rare skeletal muscle and rare cardiac diseases. Avidity Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Galecto

Galecto, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops molecules for the treatment of fibrosis, cancer, inflammation, and other related diseases. The company's lead product candidate is GB2064, which is in Phase IIa for the treatment of myelofibrosis. It also develops GB2064, a selective oral small molecule inhibitor of LOXL2 that is in Phase 2a clinical trial for the treatment of fibrotic diseases, including cancer and myelofibrosis; and GB1211, a selective oral galectin-3 inhibitor that is in Phase IIa for the treatment of cancer, as well as in Phase Ib/IIa for fibrosis. Galecto, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.