Reviewing Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX) & Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA)
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemAtara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA – Get Free Report) and Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
70.9% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.8% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility and Risk
Atara Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its share price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Recursion Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Atara Biotherapeutics and Recursion Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Atara Biotherapeutics | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.20 |
| Recursion Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.33 |
Atara Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 82.05%. Recursion Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $9.40, indicating a potential upside of 53.85%. Given Atara Biotherapeutics’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Atara Biotherapeutics is more favorable than Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
Profitability
This table compares Atara Biotherapeutics and Recursion Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Atara Biotherapeutics | -290.20% | N/A | -113.71% |
| Recursion Pharmaceuticals | -755.37% | -79.47% | -57.28% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Atara Biotherapeutics and Recursion Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Atara Biotherapeutics | $62.39 million | 0.59 | -$276.13 million | ($53.25) | -0.14 |
| Recursion Pharmaceuticals | $48.62 million | 29.87 | -$328.07 million | ($1.60) | -3.82 |
Atara Biotherapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Recursion Pharmaceuticals. Recursion Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atara Biotherapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Recursion Pharmaceuticals beats Atara Biotherapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Atara Biotherapeutics
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. develops therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States. Its lead product includes Tab-cel (tabelecleucel), a T-cell immunotherapy program that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epstein-barr virus (EBV) driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Its CAR T immunotherapy pipeline products include ATA2271 and ATA3271 to treat mesothelin; and ATA3219 for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, as well as ATA188 that is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat multiple sclerosis. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a license agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; license, and research and development collaboration agreement with QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute; and strategic collaboration with H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.
About Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the decoding biology by integrating technological innovations across biology, chemistry, automation, data science, and engineering to industrialize drug discovery. The company develops REC-994, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat cerebral cavernous malformation; REC-2282, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trial for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 2; REC-4881, which is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial to treat familial adenomatous polyposis; REC-3964, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat Clostridioides difficile infection; and REC-4881, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat AXIN1 or APC mutant cancers. Its preclinical stage product includes RBM39 to treat HR-proficient ovarian cancer. The company has collaboration and agreement with Bayer AG; the University of Utah Research Foundation; Ohio State Innovation Foundation; Roche & Genentech; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.