Contrasting Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) and Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS)

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) and Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Aurora Cannabis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	-7.67%	-13.53%	-8.12%
Aurora Cannabis	-32.26%	4.37%	3.45%

Risk & Volatility

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aurora Cannabis has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.0% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.6% of Aurora Cannabis shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Aurora Cannabis shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Aurora Cannabis, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	1	2	5	2	2.80
Aurora Cannabis	1	1	1	1	2.50

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $94.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.37%. Given Tarsus Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Aurora Cannabis.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Aurora Cannabis”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tarsus Pharmaceuticals	$451.36 million	7.59	-$66.42 million	($1.09)	-71.64
Aurora Cannabis	$247.82 million	1.01	-$88.13 million	($1.41)	-2.74

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Aurora Cannabis. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aurora Cannabis, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals beats Aurora Cannabis on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic candidates for eye care in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is XDEMVY, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of blepharitis caused by the infestation of Demodex mites, as well as to treat meibomian gland disease. It is developing TP-04 for the treatment of rosacea; and TP-05 for Lyme prophylaxis and community malaria reduction. In addition, the company develops lotilaner to address diseases across therapeutic categories in human medicine, including eye care, dermatology, and other infectious disease prevention. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

About Aurora Cannabis

Aurora Cannabis Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, distributes, and sells cannabis and cannabis-derivative products in Canada and internationally. It operates through three segments: Canadian Cannabis, European Cannabis, and Plant Propagation. The company produces, distributes, and sells medical and consumer cannabis products in Canada. It is also involved in the distribution of wholesale medical cannabis in the European Union (EU); distribution of wholesale medical cannabis in various international markets, including Australia, the Caribbean, South America, and Israel; supply of propagated vegetables and ornamental plants in North America; and distribution and sale of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products. In addition, the company cultivates and sells dried cannabis, cannabis oils, capsules, edible cannabis, cannabis extracts, and soft gels, which are ingested in various ways, including smoking, vaporizing, and consumption in the form of oil, capsules, edibles, and extracts; and provides dried flowers, vapes, dried milled strains, strain-specific extracts, strain specific cannabis oils, and concentrates. Further, it offers recreational cannabis products, such as flowers, vapes, ingestibles, concentrates, extracts, and CBD products; and patient counseling and outreach services. The company's adult-use brand portfolio includes Aurora Drift, San Rafael '71, Daily Special, Whistler, Being, and Greybeard, as well as CBD brands, Reliva and KG7; and medical cannabis brands include MedReleaf, CanniMed, Aurora, Whistler Medical Marijuana Co, Pedanios, Bidiol, and CraftPlant. Aurora Cannabis Inc. is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.