Comparing MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) & Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) and MannKind (NASDAQ:MNKD) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Iovance Biotherapeutics and MannKind’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Iovance Biotherapeutics	-89.11%	-40.51%	-31.65%
MannKind	-11.08%	N/A	-6.31%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Iovance Biotherapeutics and MannKind, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Iovance Biotherapeutics	1	3	9	0	2.62
MannKind	1	2	7	0	2.60

Iovance Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $13.20, suggesting a potential downside of 10.33%. MannKind has a consensus target price of $7.84, suggesting a potential upside of 145.89%. Given MannKind’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MannKind is more favorable than Iovance Biotherapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.0% of Iovance Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.5% of MannKind shares are held by institutional investors. 7.8% of Iovance Biotherapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of MannKind shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Iovance Biotherapeutics and MannKind”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Iovance Biotherapeutics	$324.97 million	20.52	-$390.98 million	($0.73)	-20.16
MannKind	$348.97 million	2.94	$5.86 million	($0.13)	-24.54

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

Volatility & Risk

Iovance Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MannKind has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MannKind beats Iovance Biotherapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops and commercializes cell therapies using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumor cancers in the United States. The company offers Amtagvi, a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy used to treat adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; and Proleukin, an interleukin-2 product for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. It also develops lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab to treat frontline advanced melanoma patients; LN-145 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and solid tumor cancers; IOV-4001, which is in Phase 1/2 IOV-GM1-201 clinical trial, for the treatment of NSCLC; and lifileucel for gynecological cancers. The company has collaborations and licensing agreements with WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc.; National Institutes of Health; the National Cancer Institute; H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center; The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Cellectis S.A.; Novartis Pharma AG; and Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals GmbH. The company was formerly known as Lion Biotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. in June 2017. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.

About MannKind

MannKind Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of inhaled therapeutic products for endocrine and orphan lung diseases in the United States. It offers Afrezza, an inhaled insulin used to improve glycemic control in adults with diabetes, and the V-Go wearable insulin delivery device, which provides continuous subcutaneous infusion of insulin in adults. The company's product pipeline also includes Tyvaso DPI (Treprostinil), an inhalation powder for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease; MNKD-101, a nebulized formulation of clofazimine, for the treatment of severe chronic and recurrent pulmonary infections, including nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease; MNKD-201, a dry-powder formulation of nintedanib, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In addition, it has collaboration and license agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation for development, regulatory, and commercial activities of Tyvaso DPI; co-promotion agreement with Vertice Pharma to promote Thyquidity; and collaboration agreement with Thirona to evaluate the therapeutic for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. Further, the company has supply and distribution agreement with Biomm S.A. for the commercialization of Afrezza in Brazil; and license and distribution agreement with Cipla Ltd. for the marketing and distribution of Afrezza in India. MannKind Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.