Head-To-Head Review: Lyra Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:LYRA) and Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Lyra Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:LYRA) and Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Lyra Therapeutics and Ardelyx, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lyra Therapeutics	1	0	0	0	1.00
Ardelyx	1	1	9	1	2.83

Ardelyx has a consensus target price of $13.90, suggesting a potential upside of 364.11%. Given Ardelyx’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ardelyx is more favorable than Lyra Therapeutics.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.6% of Lyra Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.9% of Ardelyx shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lyra Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Ardelyx shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lyra Therapeutics and Ardelyx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lyra Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ardelyx	-12.35%	-36.00%	-10.77%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lyra Therapeutics and Ardelyx”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lyra Therapeutics	$400,000.00	0.84	-$28.92 million	($19.15)	-0.01
Ardelyx	$450.89 million	1.66	-$61.60 million	($0.22)	-13.61

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

Volatility and Risk

Lyra Therapeutics has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ardelyx has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ardelyx beats Lyra Therapeutics on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lyra Therapeutics

Lyra Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel integrated drug and delivery solutions for the localized treatment of patients with ear, nose, and throat diseases. It's XTreo technology platform is designed to deliver medicines directly to the affected tissue for sustained periods with a single administration. The company's product candidates include LYR-210, an anti-inflammatory implantable drug matrix for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), which is in Phase III clinical trial; and LYR-220 for CRS patients with and without nasal polyps. It has a collaboration agreement with LianBio Inflammatory Limited to develop and commercialize LYR-210 in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. The company was formerly known as 480 Biomedical, Inc. and changed its name to Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. in July 2018. Lyra Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. It also develops XPHOZAH, which is in Phase III clinical trial to reduce serum phosphorus in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD)on dialysis, or hyperphosphatemia; RDX013, a potassium secretagogue, for the treatment of elevated serum potassium, or hyperkalemia, a problem among patients with kidney and/or heart failure; and RDX020, for adult patients with metabolic acidosis, a serious electrolyte disorder. The company has agreements with Kyowa Kirin, Fosun Pharmaceutical Industrial Development Co. Ltd., and Knight Therapeutics, Inc. for the development and commercialization of tenapanor in their respective territories. The company was formerly known as Nteryx, Inc. and changed its name to Ardelyx, Inc. in June 2008. Ardelyx, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.