Critical Analysis: Editas Medicine (EDIT) & Its Competitors

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) is one of 844 public companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Editas Medicine to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Editas Medicine and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Editas Medicine	-157.32%	-196.63%	-38.17%
Editas Medicine Competitors	-12,359.35%	-203.09%	-30.93%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.9% of Editas Medicine shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Editas Medicine shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Editas Medicine and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Editas Medicine	$40.52 million	-$160.06 million	-3.35
Editas Medicine Competitors	$698.13 million	$10.43 million	-15.36

Editas Medicine’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Editas Medicine. Editas Medicine is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Editas Medicine and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Editas Medicine	1	0	6	0	2.71
Editas Medicine Competitors	9847	15133	45517	1589	2.54

Editas Medicine presently has a consensus target price of $5.83, indicating a potential upside of 131.94%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 99.78%. Given Editas Medicine’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Editas Medicine is more favorable than its peers.

Risk & Volatility

Editas Medicine has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Editas Medicine’s peers have a beta of 1.14, suggesting that their average stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Editas Medicine beats its peers on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Editas Medicine Company Profile

Editas Medicine, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing genomic medicines using CRISPR-based gene-editing technologies. The company’s research platforms include CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a, which are designed to make precise changes to DNA and potentially treat diseases caused by genetic abnormalities. Editas Medicine’s lead investigational program is reni-cel, formerly known as EDIT-301. Reni-cel is an ex vivo gene-editing therapy intended to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia by modifying a patient’s blood-forming stem cells before they are returned to the body.