Analyzing Inhibrx Biosciences (NASDAQ:INBX) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	0	0	10	0	3.00
Inhibrx Biosciences	1	2	2	1	2.50

Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $337.89, suggesting a potential upside of 9.09%. Inhibrx Biosciences has a consensus target price of $197.50, suggesting a potential upside of 108.04%. Given Inhibrx Biosciences’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Inhibrx Biosciences is more favorable than Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.3% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	67.88%	20.06%	11.68%
Inhibrx Biosciences	N/A	-563.90%	-83.48%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	$268.09 million	23.04	$124.45 million	$9.35	33.13
Inhibrx Biosciences	$1.30 million	1,074.96	-$140.05 million	($8.88)	-10.69

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

Volatility and Risk

Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inhibrx Biosciences has a beta of 3.81, indicating that its stock price is 281% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beats Inhibrx Biosciences on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children. The company also offers TZIELD, a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adults and children aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D; Nexterone, a captisol-enabled formulation of amiodarone; Zulresso, a captisol-enabled formulation of brexanolone for the treatment of postpartum depression; and Veklury, an antiviral treatment for moderate or severe COVID-19. In addition, it provides Noxafil-IV, a captisol-enabled formulation of posaconazole for IV use; Duavee for the treatment of post-menopausal symptoms in women; Exemptia for autoimmune diseases; Vivitra for breast cancer; and Bryxta and Zybev for various indications. The company has alliances, licenses, and other business relationships with Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Jazz, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, and Baxter International. Further, it sells Captisol materials. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Jupiter, Florida.

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.