Analyzing Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) & Gossamer Bio (NASDAQ:GOSS)

Gossamer Bio (NASDAQ:GOSS) and Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Gossamer Bio and Atara Biotherapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gossamer Bio	$48.47 million	0.85	-$170.37 million	($0.70)	-0.25
Atara Biotherapeutics	$120.77 million	0.81	$32.69 million	($1.18)	-8.27

Atara Biotherapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Gossamer Bio. Atara Biotherapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gossamer Bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Gossamer Bio and Atara Biotherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gossamer Bio	-235.00%	N/A	-112.04%
Atara Biotherapeutics	-269.42%	-79.12%	-73.01%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.2% of Gossamer Bio shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.9% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Gossamer Bio shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 41.2% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Gossamer Bio has a beta of 2, indicating that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atara Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.1, indicating that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Gossamer Bio and Atara Biotherapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gossamer Bio	2	3	4	0	2.22
Atara Biotherapeutics	1	1	1	1	2.50

Gossamer Bio currently has a consensus price target of $3.20, suggesting a potential upside of 1,725.44%. Atara Biotherapeutics has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential downside of 2.66%. Given Gossamer Bio’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Gossamer Bio is more favorable than Atara Biotherapeutics.

Summary

Gossamer Bio beats Atara Biotherapeutics on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gossamer Bio

Gossamer Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing seralutinib for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the United States. The company is developing GB002, an inhaled, small molecule, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, or PDGFR, colony-stimulatin factor 1 receptor and c-KIT inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of PAH. It has license agreements with Pulmokine, Inc. to develop and commercialize GB002 and related backup compounds. The company was formerly known as FSG, Bio, Inc. and changed its name to Gossamer Bio, Inc. in 2017. Gossamer Bio, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States and the United Kingdom. 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 ATA3219, currently in Phase 1 trials, as well as ATA3431, under preclinical trials for the treatment of B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases; and ATA188 that is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat multiple sclerosis. The company has research collaboration agreements with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Council of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.