HIMS vs MANE: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. HIMS and MANE share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined HIMS and MANE exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Hims & Hers Health operates a direct-to-consumer telehealth platform that connects users with licensed providers and ships personalized prescription and over-the-counter products on a subscription basis. Its categories span sexual health, hair loss and dermatology, mental health, and weight management, and the model is built on recurring monthly revenue: most customers are subscribers who refill automatically, which is why the company reports subscriber counts and revenue per subscriber as core metrics. It earns money primarily through these subscriptions and increasingly through higher-priced specialty offerings, and it has invested in owning more of its supply chain, including affiliated pharmacies and a lab and peptide facility.

Full HIMS guide

Veradermics, Inc. (NYSE: MANE) is a New Haven, Connecticut biopharmaceutical company founded in 2019 and focused on dermatology and aesthetics. Its lead candidate, VDPHL01, is a proprietary oral, extended-release formulation of minoxidil designed to boost hair regrowth while limiting the cardiac exposure associated with existing oral minoxidil use. The company has completed enrollment in a roughly 519-patient Phase 2/3 study for male pattern hair loss that showed statistically significant hair-count gains versus placebo, and has additional registrational work underway: a confirmatory Phase 3 study in men ('304) with topline data expected in the second half of 2026, 12-month data from the '302 study on the same timeline, and a fully enrolled 556-patient registration-directed study in women ('306) with topline data expected in the first half of 2027. An open-label Phase 2 study in women ('207) reported positive six-month hair-count results in July 2026. A smaller pipeline includes VDMN (a dissolvable microarray patch for common warts), VDAA (alopecia areata), and VDMC (molluscum contagiosum).

Full MANE guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• HIMS drivers: Recurring subscription model; Category expansion beyond the original niche.
• MANE drivers: Large, underserved hair-loss market; Statistically significant lead-asset data.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The GLP-1 category is the clearest risk: the shift from cheaper compounded semaglutide to branded resale, plus ongoing FDA scrutiny of telehealth compounding and marketing claims, can pressure both growth and gross margins, which compressed sharply to around 65 percent in early 2026 and about 64 percent (adjusted) in the second quarter. For MANE, veradermics is pre-revenue and has no approved product, so it generates ongoing net losses (about $104 million on a trailing basis as of mid-2026) and depends on clinical and regulatory success it has not yet achieved.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick HIMS if you believe its drivers more; MANE if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the HIMS and MANE guides.

HIMS. With trailing net income negative, the trailing P/E is not meaningful, and at about $6.8 billion (as of October 2026) the market values Hims at roughly 2.6 times trailing sales and about 40 times forward earnings estimates. Analysts expect a loss of about $0.56 per share for 2026 and a return to profit (~$0.42) in 2027 on ~$4 billion of revenue. The valuation therefore rests on whether margins recover once the Eucalyptus integration, branded GLP-1 mix shift and FTC case are behind the company.

MANE. Traditional valuation multiples do not apply because Veradermics has no product revenue and posts consistent losses; the roughly $4.5 billion market value reflects expectations for VDPHL01 rather than current financials. About $820 million of cash covers a meaningful share of that value, so the market is assigning roughly $3.7 billion to the pipeline ahead of registrational readouts. The stock has swung across a 52-week range of roughly $32 to $137 since its February 2026 IPO at $17, and six covering analysts average a target near $163.50.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): HIMS shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.58 billion, q2 2026 revenue ~$753 million (+38% YoY), q2 2026 eps -$0.37 vs ~-$0.05 estimate, net income (ttm) ~-$142 million; MANE shows revenue (ttm) ~$0 (pre-commercial), net loss (ttm) ~$104M; Q2 2026 ~$23.5M, eps Q2 2026 ~$(0.58) vs ~$(0.64) consensus; trailing ~$(4.24), cash & securities ~$820M at Jun 30, 2026; runway guided into 2030.

HIMS and MANE are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined HIMS and MANE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.