Financial Analysis: Poseida Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PSTX) versus Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)

Poseida Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PSTX) and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Poseida Therapeutics and Biogen, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Poseida Therapeutics	0	0	3	0	3.00
Biogen	0	9	17	0	2.65

Poseida Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $14.67, indicating a potential upside of 431.40%. Biogen has a consensus target price of $286.50, indicating a potential upside of 23.66%. Given Poseida Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Poseida Therapeutics is more favorable than Biogen.

Volatility and Risk

Poseida Therapeutics has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biogen has a beta of -0.02, suggesting that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

46.9% of Poseida Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Biogen shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of Poseida Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Biogen shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Poseida Therapeutics and Biogen’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Poseida Therapeutics	$64.70 million	4.14	-$123.43 million	($1.19)	-2.32
Biogen	$9.84 billion	3.43	$1.16 billion	$8.01	28.93

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

Profitability

This table compares Poseida Therapeutics and Biogen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Poseida Therapeutics	-131.95%	-97.36%	-38.88%
Biogen	12.07%	14.83%	8.19%

Summary

Biogen beats Poseida Therapeutics on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Poseida Therapeutics

Poseida Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapeutics for patients with high unmet medical needs. The company's development candidates for Heme Malignancies includes P-BCMA-ALLO1, which is in Phase I trial to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma; P-CD19CD20-ALLO1, which is in Phase I trial for treating B cell malignancies and other autoimmune diseases; P-BCMACD19-ALLO1, an allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR-T product candidate in preclinical development for treating multiple myeloma; and P-CD70-ALLO1 under preclinical development to treat hematological indications. It is also involved in the development of P-MUC1C-ALLO1 that is in Phase I trial for treating a range of solid tumors, including breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and renal cancers; P-PSMA-ALLO1, an autologous chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) product candidate that is in preclinical development for the treatment of patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); and P-PSMA-101, an allogeneic CAR-T product candidate under Phase 1 clinical trial for treating mCRPC. In addition, the company engages in the development of P-FVIII-101, a clinical stage liver-directed gene therapy for the in vivo treatment of hemophilia A; P-OTC-101, a clinical stage liver-directed gene therapy for the in vivo treatment of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency; and P-PAH-101, a clinical stage liver-directed gene therapy for the in vivo treatment of phenylketonuria. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Biogen

Biogen Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers therapies for treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases in the United States, Europe, Germany, Asia, and internationally. The company provides TECFIDERA, VUMERITY, AVONEX, PLEGRIDY, TYSABRI, and FAMPYRA for multiple sclerosis (MS); SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy; ADUHELM to treat Alzheimer's disease; FUMADERM to treat plaque psoriasis; BENEPALI, an etanercept biosimilar referencing ENBREL; IMRALDI, an adalimumab biosimilar referencing HUMIRA; FLIXABI, an infliximab biosimilar referencing REMICADE; and BYOOVIZ, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing LUCENTIS. It offers RITUXAN for treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), rheumatoid arthritis, two forms of ANCA-associated vasculitis, and pemphigus vulgaris; RITUXAN HYCELA for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and CLL; GAZYVA to treat CLL and follicular lymphoma; OCREVUS for relapsing MS and primary progressive MS; LUNSUMIO to treat relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma; glofitamab for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and other anti-CD20 therapies. In addition, the company is developing various products for the treatment of MS, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, neuromuscular disorders, Parkinson's disease and movement disorders, neuropsychiatry, genetic neurodevelopmental disorders, and biosimilars, which are under various stages of development. It has collaboration and license agreements with Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.; Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited; Denali Therapeutics Inc.; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Genentech, Inc.; Neurimmune SubOne AG; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd.; Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.; and Sage Therapeutics, Inc. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.