Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) and Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Critical Survey

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Aclaris Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aclaris Therapeutics	-921.50%	-61.65%	-42.41%
Gilead Sciences	-10.64%	-2.11%	-0.75%

Volatility & Risk

Aclaris Therapeutics has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gilead Sciences has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.3% of Aclaris Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of Gilead Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. 4.8% of Aclaris Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Gilead Sciences 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Aclaris Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aclaris Therapeutics	1	0	5	3	3.11
Gilead Sciences	0	6	23	0	2.79

Aclaris Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $11.33, suggesting a potential upside of 195.91%. Gilead Sciences has a consensus price target of $159.26, suggesting a potential upside of 5.35%. Given Aclaris Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Aclaris Therapeutics is more favorable than Gilead Sciences.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aclaris Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aclaris Therapeutics	$8.22 million	65.16	-$64.92 million	($0.58)	-6.60
Gilead Sciences	$29.44 billion	6.37	$8.51 billion	($2.67)	-56.62

Gilead Sciences has higher revenue and earnings than Aclaris Therapeutics. Gilead Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aclaris Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Aclaris Therapeutics beats Gilead Sciences on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aclaris Therapeutics

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of novel drug candidates for immune-inflammatory diseases in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Therapeutics and Contract Research. The Therapeutics segment is involved in identifying and developing therapies to address significant unmet needs for immuno-inflammatory diseases. The Contract Research segment provides laboratory services. It develops Zunsemetinib (ATI-450), an MK2 inhibitor which is under Phase 1b/2 trials for the treatment of metastatic breast and pancreatic cancer; ATI-1777, a soft JAK 1/3 inhibitor, completed Phase 2b trails for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis and other dermatologic conditions; and ATI-2138, an oral covalent inhibitor of ITK and JAK3 inhibitor under Phase 1 trials as a treatment for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis. It also offers Yescarta, Tecartus, and Trodelvy products for the treatment of oncology; Letairis, an oral formulation for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; and AmBisome, a liposomal formulation for the treatment of serious invasive fungal infections. The company has collaboration agreements with Arcus Biosciences, Inc.; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.; Pionyr Immunotherapeutics Inc.; Tizona Therapeutics, Inc.; Galapagos NV; Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company; Japan Tobacco, Inc.; Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc.; Arcellx, Inc.; Everest Medicines; Merck & Co, Inc.; Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc.; and Assembly Biosciences, Inc. It also has research collaboration, option, and license agreement with Merus N.V. for the discovery of novel dual tumor-associated antigens (TAA) targeting trispecific antibodies. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.