Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) versus Its Competitors Critical Contrast

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) is one of 843 publicly-traded companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Nektar Therapeutics to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.9% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nektar Therapeutics	$55.23 million	-$164.08 million	-5.56
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	$713.71 million	$10.27 million	-18.80

Nektar Therapeutics’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Nektar Therapeutics. Nektar Therapeutics 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.

Profitability

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nektar Therapeutics	-339.67%	-33.89%	-24.86%
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	-12,319.70%	-407.93%	-30.95%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Nektar Therapeutics and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nektar Therapeutics	1	4	10	1	2.69
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	9903	15310	45655	1602	2.54

Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $130.67, indicating a potential upside of 250.59%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 125.94%. Given Nektar Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nektar Therapeutics is more favorable than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Nektar Therapeutics has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nektar Therapeutics’ peers have a beta of -1.88, meaning that their average share price is 288% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Nektar Therapeutics beats its peers on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, California. It discovers and develops medicines, with a current focus on treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its lead investigational program, rezpegaldesleukin (REZPEG), is designed to stimulate regulatory T cells, which help regulate immune responses. Nektar is studying the candidate in clinical trials for immune-mediated conditions; it is not an approved medicine. Founded in 1990 as Inhale Therapeutic Systems, the company later adopted the Nektar name as it expanded its drug-development work.