Terns Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TERN – Get Free Report) and Oculis (NASDAQ:OCS – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.
Volatility & Risk
Terns Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -0.36, suggesting that its share price is 136% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Oculis has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Terns Pharmaceuticals and Oculis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Terns Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
| Oculis | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.00 |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
98.3% of Terns Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.3% of Oculis shares are held by institutional investors. 15.1% of Terns Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Terns Pharmaceuticals and Oculis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Terns Pharmaceuticals | $1.00 million | 431.40 | -$90.21 million | ($1.26) | -5.29 |
| Oculis | $980,000.00 | 652.96 | -$98.92 million | ($1.92) | -8.23 |
Terns Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Oculis. Oculis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Terns Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Terns Pharmaceuticals and Oculis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Terns Pharmaceuticals | N/A | -39.58% | -37.69% |
| Oculis | -7,679.05% | -61.33% | -49.91% |
Summary
Terns Pharmaceuticals beats Oculis on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Terns Pharmaceuticals
Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops small-molecule product candidates for the treatment of oncology, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and obesity. The company develops TERN-701, an allosteric BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is in phase 1 clinical trial for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a form of cancer that starts in bone marrow. It also develops TERN-501, a thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist with enhanced liver distribution and metabolic stability that is in Phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of MASH; and TERN-601, a small-molecule Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 receptor agonist program that is intended to orally be administered for obesity. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
About Oculis
Oculis Holding AG, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops drug candidates to treat ophthalmic diseases. The company's lead product candidate is OCS-01, a topical dexamethasone optireach formulation, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of diabetic macular edema; OCS-02, a topical biologic candidate that is in Phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment for dry eye disease; and OCS-05, a disease modifying neuroprotective agent for neurological damage with indications for glaucoma, dry age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, and acute optic neuritis. The company is based in Zug, Switzerland.
Receive News & Ratings for Terns Pharmaceuticals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Terns Pharmaceuticals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
