Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.
Volatility and Risk
Precision BioSciences has a beta of 2.08, meaning that its share price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 3.03, meaning that its share price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Precision BioSciences and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Precision BioSciences | -484.81% | -105.74% | -53.08% |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | -233.45% | -328.70% | -71.11% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
48.6% of Precision BioSciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.0% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.3% of Precision BioSciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for Precision BioSciences and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Precision BioSciences | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.67 |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2.73 |
Precision BioSciences presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 73.91%. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $11.3750, suggesting a potential upside of 2.02%. Given Precision BioSciences' higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Precision BioSciences is more favorable than BioCryst Pharmaceuticals.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Precision BioSciences and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Precision BioSciences | $22.24 million | 27.14 | $-92,880,000.00 | ($1.91) | -6.02 |
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals | $48.83 million | 40.54 | $-108,900,000.00 | ($0.94) | -11.86 |
Precision BioSciences has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Precision BioSciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals beats Precision BioSciences on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
