Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA – Get Free Report) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of Gilead Sciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Gilead Sciences 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.
Profitability
This table compares Akebia Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Akebia Therapeutics | -13.54% | -88.88% | -7.74% |
| Gilead Sciences | -10.64% | -2.11% | -0.75% |
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Akebia Therapeutics | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2.43 |
| Gilead Sciences | 0 | 6 | 23 | 0 | 2.79 |
Akebia Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $3.90, suggesting a potential upside of 482.09%. Gilead Sciences has a consensus price target of $159.33, suggesting a potential upside of 2.01%. Given Akebia Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Akebia Therapeutics is more favorable than Gilead Sciences.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Akebia Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Akebia Therapeutics | $219.06 million | 0.85 | -$5.34 million | ($0.11) | -6.09 |
| Gilead Sciences | $30.46 billion | 6.36 | $8.51 billion | ($2.67) | -58.50 |
Gilead Sciences has higher revenue and earnings than Akebia Therapeutics. Gilead Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Akebia Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its share price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gilead Sciences has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Gilead Sciences beats Akebia Therapeutics on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Akebia Therapeutics
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company’s lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients. It offers Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control the serum phosphorus levels in adult patients with DD-CKD on dialysis; and the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with CKD not on dialysis. The company’s product pipeline includes AKB-9090, a drug targeting critical-care indications; and AKB-10108, a drug targeting conditions related to premature birth. It has collaboration agreements with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as research and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for the development and commercialization of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase targeted compounds worldwide. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis. It also offers Yescarta, Tecartus, and Trodelvy products for the treatment of oncology; Letairis, an oral formulation for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; and AmBisome, a liposomal formulation for the treatment of serious invasive fungal infections. The company has collaboration agreements with Arcus Biosciences, Inc.; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.; Pionyr Immunotherapeutics Inc.; Tizona Therapeutics, Inc.; Galapagos NV; Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company; Japan Tobacco, Inc.; Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc.; Arcellx, Inc.; Everest Medicines; Merck & Co, Inc.; Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc.; and Assembly Biosciences, Inc. It also has research collaboration, option, and license agreement with Merus N.V. for the discovery of novel dual tumor-associated antigens (TAA) targeting trispecific antibodies. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
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