Contrasting Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Recursion Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	7.77	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-12.76
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	$74.68 million	30.61	-$644.76 million	($1.04)	-4.11

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

Risk & Volatility

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Recursion Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.76%	-111.08%	-17.41%
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	-945.94%	-50.41%	-38.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Recursion Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	1	2	2	0	2.20

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $89.20, suggesting a potential upside of 101.99%. Recursion Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $8.06, suggesting a potential upside of 88.76%. Given Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ionis Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Recursion Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats Recursion Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the decoding biology by integrating technological innovations across biology, chemistry, automation, data science, and engineering to industrialize drug discovery. The company develops REC-994, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat cerebral cavernous malformation; REC-2282, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trial for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 2; REC-4881, which is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial to treat familial adenomatous polyposis; REC-3964, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat Clostridioides difficile infection; and REC-4881, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat AXIN1 or APC mutant cancers. Its preclinical stage product includes RBM39 to treat HR-proficient ovarian cancer. The company has collaboration and agreement with Bayer AG; the University of Utah Research Foundation; Ohio State Innovation Foundation; Roche & Genentech; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.