Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) & Inhibrx Biosciences (NASDAQ:INBX) Financial Survey

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) and Inhibrx Biosciences (NASDAQ:INBX) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A
Inhibrx Biosciences	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.3% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 5.6% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of Inhibrx Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A	$9.35	33.34
Inhibrx Biosciences	N/A	N/A	N/A	($8.88)	-10.77

Inhibrx Biosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ligand Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Inhibrx Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ligand Pharmaceuticals	0	0	10	0	3.00
Inhibrx Biosciences	1	2	2	1	2.50

Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $337.89, suggesting a potential upside of 8.39%. Inhibrx Biosciences has a consensus target price of $197.50, suggesting a potential upside of 106.46%. Given Inhibrx Biosciences’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Inhibrx Biosciences is more favorable than Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beats Inhibrx Biosciences on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children. The company also offers TZIELD, a CD3-directed antibody indicated to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adults and children aged 8 years and older with Stage 2 T1D; Nexterone, a captisol-enabled formulation of amiodarone; Zulresso, a captisol-enabled formulation of brexanolone for the treatment of postpartum depression; and Veklury, an antiviral treatment for moderate or severe COVID-19. In addition, it provides Noxafil-IV, a captisol-enabled formulation of posaconazole for IV use; Duavee for the treatment of post-menopausal symptoms in women; Exemptia for autoimmune diseases; Vivitra for breast cancer; and Bryxta and Zybev for various indications. The company has alliances, licenses, and other business relationships with Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Jazz, Takeda, Gilead Sciences, and Baxter International. Further, it sells Captisol materials. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Jupiter, Florida.

About Inhibrx Biosciences

Inhibrx, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops a pipeline of novel biologic therapeutic candidates. The company's therapeutic candidate includes INBRX-101, an alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT)-Fc fusion protein therapeutic candidate, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for use in the treatment of patients with AAT deficiency. It also develops INBRX-109, a tetravalent therapeutic candidate targeting death receptor 5, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat cancers, such as chondrosarcoma, mesothelioma, colorectal cancer, ewing sarcoma, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma; and INBRX-106, a hexavalent agonist of OX40 for a range of oncology indications. The company has license and collaboration agreements with 2seventy bio, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Inhibrx, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California.