Inhibrx Biosciences (NASDAQ:INBX) & Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Head to Head Contrast

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Inhibrx Biosciences (NASDAQ:INBX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inhibrx Biosciences has a beta of 3.66, indicating that its stock price is 266% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73
Inhibrx Biosciences	1	2	2	1	2.50

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $90.80, suggesting a potential upside of 102.23%. Inhibrx Biosciences has a consensus price target of $197.50, suggesting a potential upside of 76.28%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Inhibrx Biosciences.

Profitability

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.76%	-111.08%	-17.41%
Inhibrx Biosciences	N/A	-563.90%	-83.48%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$874.09 million	8.54	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-12.98
Inhibrx Biosciences	$1.30 million	1,268.64	-$140.05 million	($8.88)	-12.62

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

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats Inhibrx Biosciences on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Inhibrx Biosciences

Inhibrx, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops a pipeline of novel biologic therapeutic candidates. The company's therapeutic candidate includes INBRX-101, an alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT)-Fc fusion protein therapeutic candidate, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for use in the treatment of patients with AAT deficiency. It also develops INBRX-109, a tetravalent therapeutic candidate targeting death receptor 5, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat cancers, such as chondrosarcoma, mesothelioma, colorectal cancer, ewing sarcoma, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma; and INBRX-106, a hexavalent agonist of OX40 for a range of oncology indications. The company has license and collaboration agreements with 2seventy bio, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Inhibrx, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.