Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD – Get Free Report) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Prelude Therapeutics and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Prelude Therapeutics | N/A | -121.16% | -84.93% |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | -1.46% | -4.24% | 3.93% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Prelude Therapeutics and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Prelude Therapeutics | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.33 |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 2.64 |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
79.7% of Prelude Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.9% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 63.9% of Prelude Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by 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.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Prelude Therapeutics and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Prelude Therapeutics | $7.00 million | 18.14 | -$127.17 million | ($1.47) | -1.37 |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | $450.71 million | 3.17 | -$88.88 million | ($0.05) | -135.80 |
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Prelude Therapeutics. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Prelude Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Prelude Therapeutics has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals beats Prelude Therapeutics on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Prelude Therapeutics
Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of novel precision cancer medicines to underserved patients. It is developing PRT1419, a myeloid cell leukemia-1 inhibitor, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of selected relapsed/refractory myeloid or B-cell malignancies; PRT2527, a cyclin-dependent kinase, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced solid tumors; PRT3645, a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced and metastatic solid tumors; and PRT3879, a SMARCA2 selective protein degrader, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced and metastatic solid tumors with loss of SMARCA4 due to truncating mutation and/or deletion. The company's CDK9 program is a regulator of cancer-promoting transcriptional programs, including MCL1, MYC and MYB. Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.
About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to treat rare diseases. The company markets peramivir injection, an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza under the RAPIVAB, RAPIACTA, and PERAMIFLU names; and ORLADEYO, an oral serine protease inhibitor to treat hereditary angioedema. It is also developing BCX10013, an oral factor D inhibitor for complement-mediated diseases. The company has collaborations and in-license relationships with the Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Seqirus UK Limited; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; Green Cross Corporation; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and The University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Industrial Research, Ltd. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
Receive News & Ratings for Prelude Therapeutics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Prelude Therapeutics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
