Taysha Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:TSHA) vs. Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Head to Head Review

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) and Taysha Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:TSHA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Taysha Gene Therapies shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Assembly Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Taysha Gene Therapies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Assembly Biosciences and Taysha Gene Therapies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Assembly Biosciences	0	1	2	0	2.67
Taysha Gene Therapies	0	0	8	0	3.00

Assembly Biosciences currently has a consensus price target of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 91.86%. Taysha Gene Therapies has a consensus price target of $7.57, suggesting a potential upside of 219.47%. Given Taysha Gene Therapies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Taysha Gene Therapies is more favorable than Assembly Biosciences.

Volatility and Risk

Assembly Biosciences has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Taysha Gene Therapies has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and Taysha Gene Therapies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Assembly Biosciences	-124.15%	-131.77%	-36.81%
Taysha Gene Therapies	-1,201.08%	-104.93%	-50.09%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Assembly Biosciences and Taysha Gene Therapies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assembly Biosciences	$28.52 million	4.61	-$40.18 million	($6.23)	-2.76
Taysha Gene Therapies	$8.33 million	61.07	-$89.30 million	($0.34)	-6.97

Assembly Biosciences has higher revenue and earnings than Taysha Gene Therapies. Taysha Gene Therapies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Assembly Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Taysha Gene Therapies beats Assembly Biosciences on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial. The company also develops ABI-4334, a next-generation capsid assembly modulator, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition, it develops an oral non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor targeting transplant-related herpesviruses; and a small molecule interferon-a receptor agonist targeting HBV and HDV. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and BeiGene, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Assembly Biosciences, Inc. in June 2014. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Taysha Gene Therapies

Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc., a gene therapy company, focuses on developing and commercializing adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system. It primarily develops TSHA-120 for the treatment of giant axonal neuropathy; TSHA-102 for the treatment of Rett syndrome; TSHA-121 for the treatment of CLN7 disease; TSHA-118 for the treatment of CLN1 disease; TSHA-105 for the treatment of for SLC13A5 deficiency; TSHA-113 for the treatment of tauopathies; TSHA-106 for the treatment of angelman syndrome; TSHA-114 for the treatment of fragile X syndrome; and TSHA-101 for the treatment of GM2 gangliosidosis. Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. has a strategic partnership with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.