Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) and Inspire Medical Systems (NYSE:INSP) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Inspire Medical Systems' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | -8,518.10% | -78.17% | -40.33% |
| Inspire Medical Systems | -61.07% | -32.23% | -26.42% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
36.0% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Inspire Medical Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 4.0% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Inspire Medical Systems shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Inspire Medical Systems' gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | $4.11 million | 460.71 | $-119,360,000.00 | ($1.16) | -7.84 |
| Inspire Medical Systems | $82.05 million | 74.95 | $-33,240,000.00 | ($1.40) | -161.69 |
Inspire Medical Systems has higher revenue and earnings than Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Inspire Medical Systems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Inovio Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Inspire Medical Systems has a beta of 1.71, suggesting that its share price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Inspire Medical Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Inspire Medical Systems | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2.73 |
Inovio Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 87.22%. Inspire Medical Systems has a consensus price target of $168.5455, suggesting a potential downside of 25.33%. Given Inovio Pharmaceuticals' higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Inovio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Inspire Medical Systems.
Summary
Inspire Medical Systems beats Inovio Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
