CARGO Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRGX) and Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO) Critical Contrast

CARGO Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRGX) and Lexeo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LXEO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.2% of CARGO Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.7% of Lexeo Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of CARGO Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Lexeo Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares CARGO Therapeutics and Lexeo Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CARGO Therapeutics	N/A	-38.16%	-33.94%
Lexeo Therapeutics	N/A	-57.66%	-48.18%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CARGO Therapeutics and Lexeo Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CARGO Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$98.15 million	($3.72)	-1.25
Lexeo Therapeutics	$650,000.00	138.41	-$66.39 million	($3.08)	-0.88

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for CARGO Therapeutics and Lexeo Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CARGO Therapeutics	1	6	0	0	1.86
Lexeo Therapeutics	0	0	5	1	3.17

CARGO Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 223.28%. Lexeo Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $22.20, suggesting a potential upside of 719.19%. Given Lexeo Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lexeo Therapeutics is more favorable than CARGO Therapeutics.

Volatility and Risk

CARGO Therapeutics has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lexeo Therapeutics has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lexeo Therapeutics beats CARGO Therapeutics on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CARGO Therapeutics

CARGO Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for cancer patients. The company's lead program is CRG-022, an autologous CD22 CAR T-cell product candidate designed to address resistance mechanisms by targeting CD22, an alternate tumor antigen that is expressed in B-cell malignancies. It also develops CRG-023, a tri-specific CAR T product candidate that targets tumor cells with three B-cell antigen targets. The company was formerly known as Syncopation Life Sciences, Inc. and changed its name to CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. in September 2022. CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

About Lexeo Therapeutics

Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a clinical stage genetic medicine company that focuses on hereditary and acquired diseases. The company develops LX2006, which is an AAVrh10-based gene therapy candidate for the treatment of Friedreich's ataxia (FA) cardiomyopathy; LX2020, an AAVrh10-based gene therapy candidate for the treatment of plakophilin-2 arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy; LX2021, a gene therapy candidate for the treatment of DSP cardiomyopathy associated with it; and LX2022, a gene therapy candidate for the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM caused by TNNI3 gene. It also develops LX1001, an AAVrh10-based gene therapy candidate for the treatment of APOE4 homozygous; LX1020, a gene therapy candidate for the treatment of APOE4 homozygous; LX1021 for the treatment of APOE4 homozygotes; and LX1004 for the treatment of CLN2 Batten disease. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in New York, New York.