Reviewing LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) and Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN)

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) and Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for LENZ Therapeutics and Myriad Genetics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LENZ Therapeutics	0	0	5	1	3.17
Myriad Genetics	1	9	4	0	2.21

LENZ Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $49.60, suggesting a potential upside of 27.93%. Myriad Genetics has a consensus target price of $12.4545, suggesting a potential upside of 101.20%. Given Myriad Genetics’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Myriad Genetics is more favorable than LENZ Therapeutics.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares LENZ Therapeutics and Myriad Genetics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LENZ Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$49.77 million	($1.90)	-20.41
Myriad Genetics	$837.60 million	0.69	-$127.30 million	($4.28)	-1.45

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.3% of LENZ Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.0% of Myriad Genetics shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.9% of LENZ Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Myriad Genetics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

LENZ Therapeutics has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Myriad Genetics has a beta of 1.89, indicating that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares LENZ Therapeutics and Myriad Genetics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LENZ Therapeutics	N/A	-25.63%	-24.43%
Myriad Genetics	-47.45%	-5.17%	-3.44%

About LENZ Therapeutics

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to improve vision in the United States. Its product candidates include LNZ100 and LNZ101 which are in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of presbyopia. The company is headquartered in Del Mar, California.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics, Inc., a genetic testing and precision medicine company, develops genetic tests in the United States and internationally. The company offers molecular diagnostic tests for use in oncology, and women's and pharmacogenomics. It also provides MyRisk Hereditary Cancer Test, a DNA sequencing test for assessing the risks for hereditary cancers; BRACAnalysis CDx Germline Companion Diagnostic Test, a DNA sequencing test to help determine the therapy for patients with metastatic breast, ovarian, metastatic pancreatic, and metastatic prostate cancer with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA variants; and MyChoice CDx Companion Diagnostic Test, a tumor test that determines homologous recombination deficiency status in patients with ovarian cancer. The company also offers Prolaris Prostate Cancer Prognostic Test, an RNA expression tumor analysis for assessing the aggressiveness of prostate cancer; EndoPredict Breast Cancer Prognostic Test, an RNA expression test for assessing the aggressiveness of breast cancer; Precise Tumor, a solution for precision oncology; and Prequel Prenatal Screen, a non-invasive prenatal screening test conducted using maternal blood to screen for severe chromosomal disorders in a fetus. It provides Foresight Carrier Screen, a prenatal test for future parents to assess their risk of passing on a recessive genetic condition to their offspring; SneakPeek, a non-invasive blood test that predicts the gender of a fetus; and GeneSight Psychotropic Mental Health Medication Test, a DNA genotyping test to aid psychotropic drug selection for patients suffering from depression, anxiety, attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder, and other mental health conditions. It has a strategic collaboration with Illumina, Inc., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, SimonMed, and Onsite Women's Health. Myriad Genetics, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.