Head-To-Head Survey: Schrödinger (NASDAQ:SDGR) vs. Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Schrödinger (NASDAQ:SDGR) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Schrödinger	-100.42%	-38.38%	-26.66%
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-44.90%	-115.66%	-12.83%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

79.1% of Schrödinger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 8.6% of Schrödinger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Schrödinger and Ionis Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Schrödinger	$216.67 million	6.67	$40.72 million	($1.88)	-10.56
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$813.46 million	7.67	-$366.29 million	($2.67)	-16.01

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

Risk and Volatility

Schrödinger has a beta of 1.51, meaning that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Schrödinger and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Schrödinger	0	3	6	1	2.80
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	6	12	2	2.71

Schrödinger presently has a consensus target price of $33.44, indicating a potential upside of 68.49%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $60.68, indicating a potential upside of 41.92%. Given Schrödinger’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Schrödinger is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Schrödinger beats Ionis Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Schrödinger

Schrödinger, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops physics-based computational platform that enables discovery of novel molecules for drug development and materials applications. The company operates in two segments, Software and Drug Discovery. The Software segment is focused on licensing its software to transform molecular discovery for life sciences and materials science industries. The Drug Discovery segment focuses on building a portfolio of preclinical and clinical programs, internally and through collaborations. The company serves biopharmaceutical and industrial companies, academic institutions, and government laboratories worldwide. Schrödinger, Inc. was incorporated in 1990 and is based in New York, New York.

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.