Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) versus Synlogic (NASDAQ:SYBX) Critical Survey

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Synlogic (NASDAQ:SYBX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.4% of Synlogic shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Synlogic shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Synlogic has a beta of 0.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Synlogic’s 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%
Synlogic	N/A	-26.47%	-18.00%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Synlogic, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73
Synlogic	1	0	0	0	1.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $89.20, indicating a potential upside of 99.78%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Synlogic.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Synlogic”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$874.09 million	8.49	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-12.90
Synlogic	$8,000.00	1,714.86	-$23.36 million	($0.06)	-18.67

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

Summary

Synlogic beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 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 Synlogic

Synlogic, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of synthetic biotics to treat metabolic diseases in the United States. Its pipeline include SYNB1618, an orally administered, non-systemically absorbed drug candidate to treat phenylketonuria; SYNB1934, an orally administered, non-systemically absorbed drug candidate, which is in Phase III clinical trial to treat phenylketonuria; SYNB1353, an orally administered, non-systemically absorbed drug candidate, which is in Phase I clinical to treat homocystinuria; SYNB8802, an orally administered, non-systemically absorbed drug candidate that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of enteric hyperoxaluria; and SYNB2081 to lower uric acid for the potential treatment of gout. The company has a collaboration agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. for the research and pre-clinical development of a synthetic biotic medicine for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease; and Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. Synlogic, Inc. is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.