Comparing Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) and Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCAQ)

Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCAQ) and Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Genocea Biosciences and Denali Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genocea Biosciences	N/A	N/A	N/A
Denali Therapeutics	N/A	-32.94%	-30.04%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.9% of Denali Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Genocea Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Denali Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Genocea Biosciences and Denali Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Genocea Biosciences	$1.64 million	N/A	-$33.20 million	N/A	N/A
Denali Therapeutics	$330.53 million	10.89	-$145.22 million	($2.76)	-9.06

Genocea Biosciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Denali Therapeutics.

Volatility and Risk

Genocea Biosciences has a beta of 2.47, meaning that its stock price is 147% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Denali Therapeutics has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Genocea Biosciences and Denali Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genocea Biosciences	0	0	0	0	0.00
Denali Therapeutics	0	3	8	0	2.73

Denali Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $38.90, indicating a potential upside of 55.60%. Given Denali Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Denali Therapeutics is more favorable than Genocea Biosciences.

Summary

Denali Therapeutics beats Genocea Biosciences on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Genocea Biosciences

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops novel cancer immunotherapies. The company uses its proprietary discovery platform, ATLAS, which profiles each patient's CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune responses to every target or antigen identified by next-generation sequencing of that patient's tumor. Its products include GEN-011, an adoptive T cell therapy, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors; and GEN-009, a neoantigen vaccine candidate, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials that delivers adjuvanted synthetic long peptides spanning ATLAS-identified anti-tumor neoantigens. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On July 5, 2022, Genocea Biosciences, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plan was later approved as Chapter 11 liquidation on May 11, 2023.

About Denali Therapeutics

Denali Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company’s transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2. Its brain-penetrant small molecule programs comprise BIIB122/DNL151 LRRK2 inhibitor program for Parkinson’s disease; SAR443820/DNL788 RIPK1 inhibitor program for CNS disease; DNL343 eIF2B Activator program for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and SAR443122/DNL758 RIPK1 inhibitor program for peripheral inflammatory diseases. It also provides early stage program include TAK-594/DNL593 program for FTD-GRN; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA, a Sanfilippo Syndrome A; DNL622 for MPS I which is Hurler syndrome; Antibody Transport Vehicle Amyloid beta program; Oligonucleotide Transport Vehicle platform, a novel class of biotherapeutics to address the root cause of diseases through modulation of gene expression; and other TV-enabled discovery programs. The company has collaboration agreements with Biogen MA Inc. and Biogen International GmbH; Genzyme Corporation; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; F-star Gamma Limited, F-star Biotechnologische Forschungs-und Entwicklungsges m.b.H, and F-star Biotechnology Limited; and Genentech, Inc. The company was formerly known as SPR Pharma Inc. and changed its name to Denali Therapeutics Inc. in March 2015. Denali Therapeutics Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.