Financial Analysis: Lyra Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:LYRA) versus Milestone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIST)

Lyra Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:LYRA) and Milestone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MIST) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Lyra Therapeutics has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Milestone Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lyra Therapeutics and Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lyra Therapeutics	-7,266.08%	N/A	-59.82%
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-288.33%	-58.27%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.6% of Lyra Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lyra Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Milestone Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Lyra Therapeutics and Milestone Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lyra Therapeutics	1	0	0	0	1.00
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	1	2.71

Milestone Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $6.40, suggesting a potential upside of 704.63%. Given Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Milestone Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Lyra Therapeutics.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lyra Therapeutics	$400,000.00	0.89	-$28.92 million	($19.15)	-0.01
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	$1.55 million	63.89	-$63.06 million	($0.69)	-1.15

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

Summary

Milestone Pharmaceuticals beats Lyra Therapeutics on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lyra Therapeutics

Lyra Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel integrated drug and delivery solutions for the localized treatment of patients with ear, nose, and throat diseases. It's XTreo technology platform is designed to deliver medicines directly to the affected tissue for sustained periods with a single administration. The company's product candidates include LYR-210, an anti-inflammatory implantable drug matrix for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), which is in Phase III clinical trial; and LYR-220 for CRS patients with and without nasal polyps. It has a collaboration agreement with LianBio Inflammatory Limited to develop and commercialize LYR-210 in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. The company was formerly known as 480 Biomedical, Inc. and changed its name to Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. in July 2018. Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Milestone Pharmaceuticals

Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of cardiovascular medicines. The company's lead product candidate is etripamil, a novel and potent calcium channel blocker, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in the United States and Canada; and Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of atrial fibrillation and rapid ventricular rate. It has a license and collaboration agreement with Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize etripamil prophylactic and therapeutic uses in humans, as well as with the Montreal Heart Institute, the WCN network, and other research centers. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Montréal, Canada.