Analyzing Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) & Its Peers

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) is one of 844 public companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Ionis Pharmaceuticals to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-56.98%	-120.62%	-16.99%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Competitors	-12,323.33%	-195.38%	-30.39%

Volatility & Risk

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.43, suggesting that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ peers have a beta of -1.84, suggesting that their average share price is 284% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	3	19	0	2.78
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Competitors	9869	15282	45600	1598	2.54

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $78.00, indicating a potential upside of 178.47%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 123.21%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than its peers.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	-$381.39 million	-8.10
Ionis Pharmaceuticals Competitors	$754.80 million	$13.58 million	-18.74

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats its peers on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops RNA-targeted medicines, with a focus on antisense oligonucleotides. Its medicines are designed to act on RNA and change the production of proteins linked to disease. The company’s research and development programs span neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic and rare diseases. Ionis has developed medicines that it commercializes itself and products advanced or marketed with pharmaceutical partners. Its medicines and partnered products include treatments for conditions such as spinal muscular atrophy and transthyretin amyloidosis.