Comparing GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) & Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR)

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) and GRAIL (NASDAQ:GRAL) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Xencor and GRAIL, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xencor	1	2	5	1	2.67
GRAIL	1	5	5	0	2.36

Xencor presently has a consensus price target of $31.86, indicating a potential upside of 34.44%. GRAIL has a consensus price target of $71.11, indicating a potential downside of 5.23%. Given Xencor’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Xencor is more favorable than GRAIL.

Profitability

This table compares Xencor and GRAIL’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xencor	-155.59%	-28.66%	-20.38%
GRAIL	-236.95%	-15.88%	-14.02%

Volatility & Risk

Xencor has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GRAIL has a beta of 3.25, meaning that its share price is 225% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Xencor and GRAIL”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xencor	$125.58 million	14.03	-$91.92 million	($2.17)	-10.92
GRAIL	$147.17 million	22.78	-$408.35 million	($9.75)	-7.70

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

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of engineered monoclonal antibody and cytokine therapeutics to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company provides Sotrovimab that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Ultomiris for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and Monjuvi for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It develops Plamotamab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Vudalimab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and other solid tumor types. The company is also developing XmAb306, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat solid tumors; XmAb104, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat patients with selected solid tumors; XmAb564 that is in Phase Ia clinical trial to treat autoimmune diseases; AMG 509, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat prostate cancer; XmAb819 for patients with renal cell carcinoma; XmAb541 for the treatment of ovarian cancer; and XmAb662 which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with solid tumors. In addition, the company develops VIR-3434, which is in Phase II clinical trial for patients with hepatitis B virus infection; and VIR-2482 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial to trat hepatitis B virus. The company develops AIMab7195 to reduce blood serum levels of IgE that mediates allergic responses and allergic disease; Obexelimab to treat autoimmune disease; and Xpro1595 to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease, and depression. It has a license agreement with Caris Life Sciences. Xencor, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

About GRAIL

GRAIL, Inc. operates as a commercial-stage healthcare company, which engages in the development of a technology for early detection of cancer. It utilizes machine learning, software, and automation to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types in earlier stages. The company was founded by Jeffrey T. Huber, William H. Rastetter, Mostafa Ronaghi, and Richard D. Klausner on September 11, 2015 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.