bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) & Sorrento Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:SRNEQ) Head to Head Review

bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) and Sorrento Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:SRNEQ) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for bluebird bio and Sorrento Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
bluebird bio	1	6	4	0	2.27
Sorrento Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	N/A

bluebird bio currently has a consensus target price of $5.74, indicating a potential upside of 492.70%. Given bluebird bio’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe bluebird bio is more favorable than Sorrento Therapeutics.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.4% of bluebird bio shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of bluebird bio shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

bluebird bio has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sorrento Therapeutics has a beta of 2.25, meaning that its share price is 125% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares bluebird bio and Sorrento Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
bluebird bio	-419.64%	-34.32%	-14.44%
Sorrento Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares bluebird bio and Sorrento Therapeutics’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
bluebird bio	$3.60 million	29.44	-$266.58 million	($0.74)	-1.31
Sorrento Therapeutics	$62.84 million	0.10	-$572.84 million	N/A	N/A

bluebird bio has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Sorrento Therapeutics.

Summary

Sorrento Therapeutics beats bluebird bio on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc., a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. The company's clinical development programs include HGB-205, HGB-206, and HGB-210 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lovo-cel in the treatment of patients with SCD; and HGB-204, HGB-205, HGB-207, and HGB-212 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of beti-cel in the treatment of patients with ß-thalassemia. It has license agreement with Orchard Therapeutics Limited. The company was formerly known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and changed its name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010. bluebird bio, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts.

About Sorrento Therapeutics

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical and commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of next-generation treatments for three therapeutic areas: cancer, infectious disease,and pain. It operates through two segments, Sorrento Therapeutics and Scilex. The company provides cancer therapeutic by leveraging its proprietary G-MAB antibody library and targeted delivery modalities, which include chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), dimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and antibody drug conjugate, as well as bispecific antibody approach; and Sofusa, a drug delivery technology that deliver biologic directly into the lymphatic system. Its clinical programs in development include anti-CD38 CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, as well as for amyloidosis and graft versus host disease. The company develops resiniferatoxin, a non-opioid-based TRPV1 agonist neurotoxin for late stage cancer and osteoarthritis pain treatment; and ZTlido, a lidocaine topical system for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. It engages in the development of SEMDEXA, an injectable viscous gel formulation, which is Phase III trial for the treatment of sciatica, a pathology of low back pain; SP-103, an investigational non-aqueous lidocaine topical system undergoing clinical development in chronic low back pain condition; and SP-104, a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride formulation for the treatment of fibromyalgia. It has collaboration with SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. to develop gene-encoded antibody vaccine to protect against COVID-19; and Mayo Clinic for Phase Ib pilot study using sofusa lymphatic drug delivery technology to deliver Ipilimumab in patient with melanoma. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in San Diego, California. On February 13, 2023, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., along with its affiliate, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The plan was later approved as Chapter 11 liquidation on November 30, 2023.