Atea Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVIR) & Tenaya Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TNYA) Critical Contrast

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

Volatility & Risk

Tenaya Therapeutics has a beta of 2.83, suggesting that its share price is 183% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atea Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Tenaya Therapeutics and Atea Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tenaya Therapeutics	1	0	5	1	2.86
Atea Pharmaceuticals	1	0	0	1	2.50

Tenaya Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 417.40%. Given Tenaya Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Tenaya Therapeutics is more favorable than Atea Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Tenaya Therapeutics and Atea Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tenaya Therapeutics	N/A	-80.56%	-65.21%
Atea Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-57.01%	-51.49%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Tenaya Therapeutics and Atea Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tenaya Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$90.60 million	($0.47)	-1.64
Atea Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$158.35 million	($2.11)	-2.25

Atea Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tenaya Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.5% of Tenaya Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Atea Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Tenaya Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.6% of Atea Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Tenaya Therapeutics beats Atea Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tenaya Therapeutics

Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and delivers therapies for heart disease in the United States. It develops its products through gene editing, cellular regeneration, and gene addition. The company is developing TN-201, a gene therapy for myosin binding protein C3-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is in phase 1 clinical trial; TN-301, a small molecule for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction which is in phase 1 clinical trial; and TN-401, a gene therapy for plakophilin 2-associated arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy which is in preclinical stage. It also develops an adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy designed to deliver the dworf gene for patient with dilated cardiomyopathy; and reprogramming program for heart failure due to prior myocardial infarction. Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, 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.