Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) versus Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE) Head-To-Head Review

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.5% of Fate Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.7% of Geron shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of Fate Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Geron shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Fate Therapeutics and Geron’s 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%
Geron	-23.04%	-16.33%	-6.77%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Fate Therapeutics and Geron”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	31.62	-$136.32 million	($1.03)	-1.70
Geron	$183.88 million	3.47	-$83.50 million	($0.08)	-12.42

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

Risk & Volatility

Fate Therapeutics has a beta of 2.65, suggesting that its share price is 165% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Geron has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Fate Therapeutics and Geron, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fate Therapeutics	1	1	4	0	2.50
Geron	1	2	3	0	2.33

Fate Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $5.80, suggesting a potential upside of 230.48%. Geron has a consensus price target of $3.75, suggesting a potential upside of 277.26%. Given Geron’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Geron is more favorable than Fate Therapeutics.

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 Geron

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.