Head-To-Head Survey: Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) versus Kalaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KLRS)

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) and Kalaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KLRS) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Ascendis Pharma A/S has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kalaris Therapeutics has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Kalaris Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascendis Pharma A/S	-30.85%	N/A	-19.63%
Kalaris Therapeutics	N/A	-73.11%	-43.56%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Ascendis Pharma A/S and Kalaris Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascendis Pharma A/S	1	0	17	1	2.95
Kalaris Therapeutics	1	1	4	1	2.71

Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus target price of $291.56, suggesting a potential upside of 21.33%. Kalaris Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 122.93%. Given Kalaris Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kalaris Therapeutics is more favorable than Ascendis Pharma A/S.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Kalaris Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascendis Pharma A/S	$814.57 million	18.40	-$258.00 million	($4.40)	-54.61
Kalaris Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$43.44 million	($4.21)	-1.49

Kalaris Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ascendis Pharma A/S. Ascendis Pharma A/S is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kalaris Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.1% of Kalaris Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.0% of Ascendis Pharma A/S shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 75.0% of Kalaris Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kalaris Therapeutics beats Ascendis Pharma A/S on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark.

About Kalaris Therapeutics

Allovir, Inc., a clinical-stage cell therapy company, engages in the research and development of allogeneic, off-the-shelf multi-virus specific T cell (VST) therapies to prevent and treat devastating viral-associated diseases. The company’s lead product is posoleucel, an allogeneic, off-the-shelf VST therapy, to treat BK virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6, and JC virus. Its preclinical and clinical development product candidates include ALVR106 for the respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, parainfluenza virus, and human metapneumovirus; ALVR109 to treat SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19; ALVR107 for treating hepatitis B; and ALVR108. The company was formerly known as ViraCyte, Inc. and changed its name to Allovir, Inc. in May 2019. Allovir, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.