BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) versus Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) Financial Contrast

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) and Merck KGaA (OTCMKTS:MKKGY) 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, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Merck KGaA”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	$599.82 million	2.45	-$88.88 million	($0.05)	-139.40
Merck KGaA	$22.57 billion	0.75	$3.00 billion	$2.51	10.37

Merck KGaA has higher revenue and earnings than BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Merck KGaA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Merck KGaA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	-6.41%	N/A	-1.78%
Merck KGaA	13.49%	9.78%	5.75%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.9% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Merck KGaA shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merck KGaA has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals and Merck KGaA, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	1	3	10	0	2.64
Merck KGaA	0	2	0	0	2.00

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $19.33, suggesting a potential upside of 177.38%. Given BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Merck KGaA.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to treat rare diseases. The company markets peramivir injection, an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza under the RAPIVAB, RAPIACTA, and PERAMIFLU names; and ORLADEYO, an oral serine protease inhibitor to treat hereditary angioedema. It is also developing BCX10013, an oral factor D inhibitor for complement-mediated diseases. The company has collaborations and in-license relationships with the Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Seqirus UK Limited; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; Green Cross Corporation; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and The University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Industrial Research, Ltd. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About Merck KGaA

Merck KGaA operates as a science and technology company in Germany. It operates through Life Science, Healthcare, and Electronics segments. The company’s Life Science segment offers tools, chemicals, and equipment for academic labs, biotech, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as industrial sector. This segment provides drug manufacturers with process development expertise and technologies, such as continuous bioprocessing; testing kits and services; reagents and services; testing solutions that analyze air, water, and soil; and testing and tools, as well as products that help test nutritional value and identify quality inconsistencies. Its Healthcare segment discovers, develops, manufacturers, and markets prescription drugs and biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of oncology, neurology and immunology, fertility, endocrinology, as well as cardiovascular, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and multiple sclerosis; general medicines; and injection device and disease monitoring software. The Electronics segment supplies materials for the semiconductor and display industries and surface design, such as delivery systems and services, as well as surface solutions, including cosmetics, effect pigments, and functional solutions. In addition, it has in-licensing agreement with Debiopharm International SA for developing and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of head and neck cancer; Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for developing, manufacturing, and commercializing drug candidates for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer; and Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. for developing and commercializing of drug candidates for the treatment of tenosynovial giant cell tumor, as well as license and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA to discover two targeted protein degraders against critical oncogenic proteins. The company was founded in 1668 and is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany. Merck KGaA operates as a subsidiary of E. Merck KGaA.