Critical Survey: Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) versus Innate Pharma (NASDAQ:IPHA)

Innate Pharma (NASDAQ:IPHA) and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Innate Pharma has a beta of 0.44, meaning that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Innate Pharma and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Innate Pharma	$66.71 million	2.45	-$8.19 million	N/A	N/A
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	$17.45 million	54.69	-$135.89 million	($4.77)	-5.30

Innate Pharma has higher revenue and earnings than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Innate Pharma and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Innate Pharma	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-71.12%	-55.30%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Innate Pharma shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 31.9% of Innate Pharma shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Innate Pharma and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Innate Pharma	0	0	1	0	3.00
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	0	1	7	0	2.88

Innate Pharma currently has a consensus target price of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 382.67%. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $50.38, indicating a potential upside of 99.43%. Given Innate Pharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Innate Pharma is more favorable than Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Innate Pharma beats Tarsus Pharmaceuticals on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Innate Pharma

Innate Pharma S.A., a biotechnology company, develops immunotherapies for cancer patients in France and internationally. The company's products include Lacutamab (IPH4102), an anti-KIR3DL2 antibody, which is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, as well as in Phase II clinical trials to treat refractory sézary syndrome; Monalizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor that is in Phase III clinical trial to treat advanced solid tumors comprising colorectal and lung cancer, as well as head and neck cancer; IPH5201, a blocking antibody that is in Phase II clinical trials targeting the CD39 immunosuppressive pathway; IPH5301, an anti-CD73 antibody targeting the immunosuppressive adenosine pathway to promote antitumor immunity; IPH6401, an BCMA-targeting NK cell engager; and IPH6101, a NKp46-based NK cell engager that targets CD123 proprietary multi-specific antibody format; and IPH62, an B7-H3-targeting NK cell engager. Its products in preclinical trials are IPH43, an anti-MICA/B ADC and IPH45, an antibody drug conjugates (ADC); and IPH67, an undisclosed, multi-specific ANKET. The company has licensing and collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, and Orega Biotech; and co-development and license agreement with MedImmune Limited. Innate Pharma S.A. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Marseille, France.

About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for eye care in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is XDEMVY, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. It is developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other infectious disease prevention. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.