Analyzing Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE) & Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT)

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE) and Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Fate Therapeutics and Applied Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fate Therapeutics	$6.65 million	32.25	-$136.32 million	($1.05)	-1.70
Applied Therapeutics	$1.00 million	15.86	-$105.62 million	($0.10)	-1.03

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

Volatility and Risk

Fate Therapeutics has a beta of 2.52, suggesting that its share price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Therapeutics has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its share price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Fate Therapeutics and Applied Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fate Therapeutics	1	3	4	0	2.38
Applied Therapeutics	1	2	0	0	1.67

Fate Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $5.90, suggesting a potential upside of 229.61%. Applied Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $1.00, suggesting a potential upside of 870.87%. Given Applied Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Therapeutics is more favorable than Fate Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Fate Therapeutics and Applied Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fate Therapeutics	-1,941.09%	-65.08%	-41.73%
Applied Therapeutics	N/A	-340.84%	-175.00%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.5% of Fate Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Applied Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of Fate Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Applied Therapeutics shares are owned by company 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

Fate Therapeutics beats Applied Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Fate Therapeutics

Fate Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders worldwide. The company's chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-targeted NK and T-cell product candidates include FT576 to treat multiple myeloma, and FT522, to treat lymphoma and autoimmune disorders. Its CAR T-cell programs include FT819 to treat hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, and FT825 to treat solid tumors. The company has a collaboration and option agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for the development and commercialization of off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived CAR T-cell product candidates for the treatment of cancer. Fate Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Applied Therapeutics

Applied Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of a pipeline of novel product candidates against validated molecular targets in indications of high unmet medical need in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is AT-007 (also called govorestat) that has completed phase 3 for the treatment of galactosemia in healthy volunteers and adults, in pediatric clinical study for the treatment of galactosemia in kids, for treating enzyme sorbitol dehydrogenase, and for the treatment of phosphomannomutase enzyme-CDG. It also develops AT-001 (also called caficrestat) that is in phase 3 clinical trials to treat diabetic cardiomyopathy, as well as for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy; and AT-003, which is in preclinical studies for the treatment diabetic retinopathy. The company has exclusive license and supply agreement with Mercury Pharma Group Limited to commercialize drug products containing AT-007. Applied Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York.