Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) and Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Financial Analysis

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) and Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Ascendis Pharma A/S has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viridian Therapeutics has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Viridian Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ascendis Pharma A/S	$814.57 million	19.90	-$258.00 million	$12.89	20.16
Viridian Therapeutics	$70.85 million	48.27	-$342.60 million	($3.84)	-7.86

Ascendis Pharma A/S has higher revenue and earnings than Viridian Therapeutics. Viridian Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ascendis Pharma A/S, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ascendis Pharma A/S and Viridian Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ascendis Pharma A/S	0	2	19	0	2.90
Viridian Therapeutics	1	0	11	0	2.83

Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus target price of $305.95, indicating a potential upside of 17.74%. Viridian Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $41.00, indicating a potential upside of 35.81%. Given Viridian Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Viridian Therapeutics is more favorable than Ascendis Pharma A/S.

Profitability

This table compares Ascendis Pharma A/S and Viridian Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ascendis Pharma A/S	70.99%	32.54%	7.71%
Viridian Therapeutics	-1,620.79%	-77.15%	-45.92%

Summary

Ascendis Pharma A/S beats Viridian Therapeutics on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark.

About Viridian Therapeutics

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, discover and develops treatments for serious and rare diseases. The company's product pipeline includes VRDN-001, a monoclonal antibody targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED); and VRDN-003, a next generation IGF-1R humanized monoclonal antibodies targeting IGF-1R and incorporating half-life extension technology for the treatment of TED. It also provides VRDN-006 a preclinical program for autoimmune disease. In addition, the company offers VRDN-006 and VRDN-008 a preclinical program for autoimmune disease. The company was formerly known as Miragen Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. in January 2021.Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.