Comparing Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN) and Theratechnologies (NASDAQ:THTX)

Aileron Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALRN) and Theratechnologies (NASDAQ:THTX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Aileron Therapeutics and Theratechnologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aileron Therapeutics	N/A	-74.08%	-27.93%
Theratechnologies	-3.75%	N/A	-4.31%

Risk & Volatility

Aileron Therapeutics has a beta of 2.24, suggesting that its stock price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Theratechnologies has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.9% of Aileron Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Aileron Therapeutics shares are held by company 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aileron Therapeutics and Theratechnologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aileron Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$15.73 million	($3.12)	N/A
Theratechnologies	$81.76 million	0.96	-$23.96 million	($0.10)	-17.10

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Aileron Therapeutics and Theratechnologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aileron Therapeutics	0	0	1	1	3.50
Theratechnologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Aileron Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.00%. Given Aileron Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aileron Therapeutics is more favorable than Theratechnologies.

Summary

Aileron Therapeutics beats Theratechnologies on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aileron Therapeutics

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines to address unmet medical needs in orphan pulmonary and fibrosis indications in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is LTI-03, a peptide, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Its second product candidate is LTI-01, a proenzyme that has completed Phase 1b and Phase 2a clinical trials in LPE patients for the treatment of loculated pleural effusion. The company's pipeline also includes preclinical programs targeting cystic fibrosis and a peptide program focused on the caveolin-1 protein for systemic fibrosis indications. The company was formerly known as Renegade Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2007. Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Theratechnologies

Theratechnologies Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of various therapies to address the unmet medical needs in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company offers EGRIFTA SV for the reduction of excess abdominal fat in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with lipodystrophy; and Trogarzo for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in heavily treatment-experienced adults with multidrug-resistant HIV-1 infection failing their current antiretroviral regimen. Its pipeline products include F8 Formulation that is in Phase 2b/3 clinical trials for studying tesamorelin for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; multi -dose pen injector for the administration of tesamorelin; SORT1+ Technology Platform for the development of proprietary peptides for cancer drug development targeting SORT1 receptors; Sudocetaxel Zendusortide, which is in Phase 1 Clinical Trial for various solid tumor types, including HR+ breast, triple negative breast, ovarian, endometrial, melanoma, thyroid, small cell lung, and prostate cancers. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.