Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) versus MusclePharm (OTCMKTS:MSLP) Critical Comparison

MusclePharm (OTCMKTS:MSLP) and Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MusclePharm	$50.04 million	0.00	-$12.87 million	($0.58)	N/A
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$245.60 million	($2.75)	-3.59

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

Profitability

This table compares MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MusclePharm	-38.51%	N/A	-169.56%
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-62.62%	-54.17%

Risk and Volatility

MusclePharm has a beta of -0.07, suggesting that its stock price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for MusclePharm and Rocket Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MusclePharm	0	0	0	0	0.00
Rocket Pharmaceuticals	0	1	11	0	2.92

Rocket Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $47.27, suggesting a potential upside of 379.44%. Given Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Rocket Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than MusclePharm.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.5% of MusclePharm shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.4% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 60.7% of MusclePharm shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.5% of Rocket Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Rocket Pharmaceuticals beats MusclePharm on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MusclePharm

MusclePharm Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements in the United States and internationally. The company offers a range of performance powders, capsules, tablets, gels, and on-the-go ready to eat snacks. Its MusclePharm brand product portfolio includes combat protein powder and combat crunch protein bars; and essential supplements, such as a BCAA, creatine, glutamine, carnitine, CLA, fish oil, multi-vitamin, and other products. The company also provides FitMiss branded sports nutrition products, which are formulated primarily for the female body to support women in the areas of weight management, lean muscle mass, body composition, and general health and wellness; and functional energy beverages under the Combat Energy and FitMiss Energy brands. It sells its products to various athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a late-stage biotechnology company that focuses on developing gene therapies for rare and devastating diseases. It has three clinical-stage ex vivo lentiviral vector programs for fanconi anemia, a genetic defect in the bone marrow that reduces production of blood cells or promotes the production of faulty blood cells; leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, a genetic disorder that causes the immune system to malfunction; and pyruvate kinase deficiency, a rare red blood cell autosomal recessive disorder that results in chronic non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia. The company also has a clinical stage in vivo adeno-associated virus program for Danon disease, a multi-organ lysosomal-associated disorder leading to early death due to heart failure; Plakophilin-2 Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy, an inheritable cardiac disorder; and BAG3 Dilated Cardiomyopathy. It has license agreements with Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Centro de Investigacion Biomedica En Red, and Fundacion Instituto de investigacion Sanitaria Fundacion Jimenez Diaz; UCL Business PLC; The Regents of the University of California; and REGENXBIO, Inc. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Cranbury, New Jersey.