Financial Survey: BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.7% of BioMarin Pharmaceutical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of BioMarin Pharmaceutical shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BioMarin Pharmaceutical and Ionis Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BioMarin Pharmaceutical	$3.41 billion	3.53	$348.90 million	$0.37	168.14
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	7.73	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-12.70

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for BioMarin Pharmaceutical and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BioMarin Pharmaceutical	1	6	15	1	2.70
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73

BioMarin Pharmaceutical currently has a consensus target price of $89.17, suggesting a potential upside of 43.34%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $90.50, suggesting a potential upside of 106.01%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than BioMarin Pharmaceutical.

Volatility & Risk

BioMarin Pharmaceutical has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares BioMarin Pharmaceutical and Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BioMarin Pharmaceutical	2.14%	5.32%	3.69%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.76%	-111.08%	-17.41%

Summary

BioMarin Pharmaceutical beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BioMarin Pharmaceutical

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. develops and commercializes therapies for people with serious and life-threatening rare diseases and medical conditions. Its commercial products include Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IV type A, a lysosomal storage disorder; Naglazyme, a recombinant form of N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase for patients with MPS VI; and Kuvan, a proprietary synthetic oral form of 6R-BH4 that is used to treat patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), an inherited metabolic disease. The company's commercial products also comprise Palynziq, a PEGylated recombinant phenylalanine ammonia lyase enzyme, which is delivered through subcutaneous injection to reduce blood Phe concentrations; Brineura, a recombinant human tripeptidyl peptidase 1 for the treatment of patients with ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2, a form of Batten disease; Voxzogo, a once daily injection analog of c-type natriuretic peptide for the treatment of achondroplasia; and Aldurazyme, a purified protein designed to be identical to a naturally occurring form of the human enzyme alpha-L-iduronidase. In addition, it develops Roctavian, an adeno associated virus vector, for the treatment of patients with severe hemophilia A. The company serves specialty pharmacies, hospitals, and non-U.S. government agencies, as well as distributors and pharmaceutical wholesalers in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. has license and collaboration agreements with Sarepta Therapeutics, Ares Trading S.A., Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR; Olezarsen for patients with FCS and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus. In addition, the company develops IONIS-FB-LRx to inhibit the production of complement factor B and the alternative complement pathway; and ION224 to reduce the production of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with Metagenomi, Inc, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis, Roche, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, and PTC Therapeutics. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.