RXRX vs TEM: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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. RXRX and TEM 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 RXRX and TEM 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.

Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a Salt Lake City-based, clinical-stage technology-enabled biopharmaceutical company that aims to industrialize drug discovery. Its platform combines automated wet-lab biology, high-throughput cellular imaging that generates petabytes of proprietary experimental data, and machine-learning models that map relationships between genes, compounds, and disease, layered with Exscientia's automated precision molecular design. Recursion intends to make money three ways: partnership and collaboration payments (upfront fees, research funding, and milestone payments from large pharma companies that use its platform), future royalties on any partnered drugs that reach market, and value from its own wholly owned pipeline of clinical candidates. Today the company is pre-revenue in the product sense: reported revenue is small (roughly $6.5 million in Q1 2026) and comes mostly from partnerships rather than drug sales.

Full RXRX guide

Tempus AI (NASDAQ: TEM) is a Chicago-based technology company that applies artificial intelligence to precision medicine, primarily in oncology but increasingly across cardiology, neuropsychiatry, and hereditary conditions. It operates two interconnected business lines: a diagnostics segment that performs next-generation sequencing (NGS), PCR profiling, molecular pathology, and hereditary genetic tests through CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified laboratories, charging on a per-test basis; and a Data and Applications segment that licenses de-identified, linked clinical, molecular, and imaging datasets to life sciences companies (Insights), offers clinical trial matching (Trials), and deploys AI-powered algorithm products for physicians (Algos) and an AI platform called Next. Approximately 95% of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies use Tempus data or trial services, and the platform has integrations across more than 7,000 physicians and hundreds of research partners, creating a self-reinforcing network where clinical volume generates data that improves AI models and attracts more customers.

Full TEM guide

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

• RXRX drivers: An industrial-scale AI platform and proprietary data moat; A deep big-pharma partnership book.
• TEM drivers: Explosive Revenue Growth with a Clear Path to Profitability; Data Licensing as a High-Margin Flywheel.

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 central risk is that Recursion has no approved drug and remains deeply unprofitable, posting a net loss of roughly $117.5 million in Q1 2026 against only about $6.5 million of revenue, so the entire valuation rests on platform promise rather than proven output. For TEM, tempus remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, with a full-year 2025 net loss of $245 million (which included $136 million in stock-based compensation), and the path to sustained GAAP profitability is long; Q1 2026 showed a net loss of $125.9 million, widening 85% year-over-year, and EPS missed analyst estimates by 34%.

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 RXRX if you believe its drivers more; TEM 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 RXRX and TEM guides.

RXRX. Because Recursion is pre-profit with minimal revenue, traditional earnings multiples do not apply, and the figures that matter most are cash on hand, the rate of cash burn, and how long the runway lasts before the company must raise money again. Q1 2026 showed narrower losses driven by sizable cuts to R&D and overhead, which extended the stated runway into early 2028, but revenue came in well below analyst expectations. For a story like this, valuation is ultimately a bet on future platform output and partnership milestones rather than on current financial performance.

TEM. Tempus trades at roughly 6.6 times trailing twelve-month revenue, a premium that reflects the market pricing in a future where its data-licensing flywheel generates high-margin recurring revenue at scale. The P/E ratio is not meaningful today because the company is not yet GAAP profitable, but consensus estimates suggest the first meaningful earnings could arrive by 2028, and the company's own guidance calls for positive Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $65 million in 2026. The gross margin of approximately 63% is already at software-like levels and has expanded significantly as the higher-margin Data and Applications segment grows faster than diagnostics.

Headline figures (approximate, 2026-06-27): RXRX shows revenue (q1 2026) ~$6.5 million (mostly partnership and milestone revenue, missed analyst estimates), net loss (q1 2026) ~$117.5 million (narrowed from the prior year on cost cuts), cash and investments ~$665 million (as of March 31, 2026), guided 2026 operating cash burn less than ~$390 million; stated runway into early 2028 without new financing; TEM shows revenue (fy2025, reported) ~$1.27 billion, revenue (ttm, as of q1 2026) ~$1.36 billion, q1 2026 revenue (most recent quarter) ~$348 million (up 36% YoY), gross margin (fy2025) ~63%.

RXRX and TEM 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 RXRX and TEM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.