Financial Survey: Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) & BeyondSpring (NASDAQ:BYSI)

BeyondSpring (NASDAQ:BYSI) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for BeyondSpring and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BeyondSpring	1	0	0	0	1.00
Vertex Pharmaceuticals	0	2	20	1	2.96

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $575.13, indicating a potential upside of 13.50%. Given Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vertex Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than BeyondSpring.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.3% of BeyondSpring shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 29.3% of BeyondSpring shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

BeyondSpring has a beta of -0.21, meaning that its stock price is 121% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.28, meaning that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BeyondSpring and Vertex Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BeyondSpring	$1.75 million	19.12	-$1.01 million	($0.12)	-6.78
Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$12.00 billion	10.72	$3.95 billion	$17.18	29.50

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

Profitability

This table compares BeyondSpring and Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BeyondSpring	N/A	N/A	-28.88%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals	35.00%	23.09%	16.72%

Summary

Vertex Pharmaceuticals beats BeyondSpring on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BeyondSpring

BeyondSpring Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, together with its subsidiaries, focuses on the development of cancer therapies. The company's lead asset is the Plinabulin, a selective immunomodulating microtubule-binding agent that has completed Phase III clinical trials for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); and as an anti-cancer agent, as well as for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. It is also developing Plinabulin in combination with docetaxel vs. docetaxel alone for the treatment of NSCLC and epidermal growth factor receptor wild type. In addition, the company develops Plinabulin in combination with various immuno-oncology agents and chemotherapy or radiation, including; nivolumab, a PD-1 antibody that is has completed phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer; ipilimumab, a CTLA-4 antibody for the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer; in combination with PD-1 or PD-L1 antibodies and radiation for the treatment of various cancers; and pembrolizumab, etoposide, and platinum to treat extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. Further, it engages in the development of three small molecule immune agents in preclinical stages; and a drug discovery platform to develop therapeutic agents from internal research and development efforts and from collaboration. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor. The company's pipeline includes VX-522, a CFTR mRNA therapeutic designed to treat the underlying cause of CF, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial; VX-548, a non-opioid medicine for the treatment of acute and neuropathic pain which is in Phase 3 clinical trial; Exa-cel, for the treatment of sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trial. In addition, it provides inaxaplin for the treatment of APOL1-mediated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and co-morbidities, such as hypertension which is in single Phase 2/3; VX- 880 and VX-264, treatment for Type 1 Diabetes which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trial; VX-970, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of cancer; and VX-803 and VX-984 for treatment of cancer in Phase 1 clinical trial. Further, it sells the products to specialty pharmacy and specialty distributors in the United States, as well as retail pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics. Additionally, the company has collaborations with CRISPR Therapeutics AG.; Moderna, Inc.; Entrada Therapeutics, Inc.; Arbor Biotechnologies, Inc.; Mammoth Biosciences, Inc.; and Verve Therapeutics., as well as collaborations with Tevard Biosciences to develop novel tRNA-based therapies for duchenne muscular dystrophy. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.