bluebird bio (BLUE) Competitors

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Does the media refer more to ALEC or BLUE?

In the previous week, bluebird bio had 1 more articles in the media than Alector. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for bluebird bio and 2 mentions for Alector. bluebird bio's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Alector's score of 0.36 indicating that Alector is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Alector	Positive
bluebird bio	Neutral

Do analysts rate ALEC or BLUE?

Alector presently has a consensus target price of $13.70, suggesting a potential upside of 152.77%. bluebird bio has a consensus target price of $7.62, suggesting a potential upside of 91.00%. Given bluebird bio's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Alector is more favorable than bluebird bio.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alector	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44
bluebird bio	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.42

Is ALEC or BLUE more profitable?

Alector has a net margin of -146.80% compared to Alector's net margin of -419.64%. Alector's return on equity of -34.32% beat bluebird bio's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alector	-146.80%	-74.78%	-19.39%
bluebird bio	-419.64%	-34.32%	-14.44%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ALEC or BLUE?

bluebird bio received 891 more outperform votes than Alector when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 72.27% of users gave bluebird bio an outperform vote while only 59.75% of users gave Alector an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Alector	Outperform Votes 141 59.75%	Underperform Votes 95 40.25%
bluebird bio	Outperform Votes 1032 72.27%	Underperform Votes 396 27.73%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ALEC or BLUE?

69.7% of Alector shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of bluebird bio shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.0% of Alector shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of bluebird bio shares are owned by company 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, ALEC or BLUE?

Alector has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, bluebird bio has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ALEC or BLUE?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alector	$133.62M	3.48	-$133.31M	-$1.69	-3.27
bluebird bio	$3.60M	120.58	-$266.58M	-$0.74	-5.36

Summary

bluebird bio beats Alector on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.