Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) Competitors

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and community ranking.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor BIIB or IONS?

Biogen received 1116 more outperform votes than Ionis Pharmaceuticals when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.28% of users gave Biogen an outperform vote while only 60.46% of users gave Ionis Pharmaceuticals an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Biogen	Outperform Votes 1824 71.28%	Underperform Votes 735 28.72%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	Outperform Votes 708 60.46%	Underperform Votes 463 39.54%

Do analysts rate BIIB or IONS?

Biogen currently has a consensus price target of $191.30, suggesting a potential upside of 41.84%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $56.67, suggesting a potential upside of 55.59%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Biogen.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Biogen	0 Sell rating(s)	20 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Does the media prefer BIIB or IONS?

In the previous week, Biogen had 4 more articles in the media than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Biogen and 4 mentions for Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Biogen's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' score of 0.83 indicating that Biogen is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Biogen	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is BIIB or IONS more profitable?

Biogen has a net margin of 16.87% compared to Ionis Pharmaceuticals' net margin of -64.25%. Biogen's return on equity of 14.98% beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Biogen	16.87%	14.98%	8.76%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.25%	-100.05%	-15.70%

Which has more volatility & risk, BIIB or IONS?

Biogen has a beta of 0.14, suggesting that its stock price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.18, suggesting that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in BIIB or IONS?

87.9% of Biogen shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Biogen shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation and earnings, BIIB or IONS?

Biogen has higher revenue and earnings than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Biogen, 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
Biogen	$9.82B	2.01	$1.63B	$10.13	13.31
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$717.25M	8.08	-$366.29M	-$2.99	-12.18

Summary

Biogen beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.