Contrasting Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ:KRYS) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ:KRYS) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Krystal Biotech and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Krystal Biotech	0	2	10	2	3.00
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73

Krystal Biotech currently has a consensus target price of $377.20, suggesting a potential upside of 14.00%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $89.20, suggesting a potential upside of 108.65%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Krystal Biotech.

Profitability

This table compares Krystal Biotech and Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Krystal Biotech	54.82%	19.34%	17.65%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.76%	-111.08%	-17.41%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.3% of Krystal Biotech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.1% of Krystal Biotech shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned 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.

Volatility & Risk

Krystal Biotech has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Krystal Biotech and Ionis Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Krystal Biotech	$389.13 million	25.17	$204.83 million	$7.98	41.46
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	7.53	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-12.36

Krystal Biotech has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Krystal Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Krystal Biotech beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Krystal Biotech

Krystal Biotech, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes genetic medicines for patients with rare diseases in the United States. It commercializes VYJUVEK (beremagene geperpavec-svdt, or B-VEC) for the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The company also develops KB105, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for treating patients with deficient autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis; KB104 for treating netherton syndrome; KB407 that is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating cystic fibrosis; KB707 that is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of anti-PD-1 relapsed/refractory; KB408, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; and KB301 that is in Phase 2 clinical trials for treating aesthetic skin conditions, as well as in open label study with ophthalmic B-VEC for treating for ocular complications of deb. Krystal Biotech, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR; Olezarsen for patients with FCS and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus. In addition, the company develops IONIS-FB-LRx to inhibit the production of complement factor B and the alternative complement pathway; and ION224 to reduce the production of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with Metagenomi, Inc, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis, Roche, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, and PTC Therapeutics. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.