Head-To-Head Analysis: Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) vs. XBiotech (NASDAQ:XBIT)

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) and XBiotech (NASDAQ:XBIT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, XBiotech has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and XBiotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	-10.23%	-4.41%	-3.07%
XBiotech	N/A	-15.99%	-14.85%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and XBiotech”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	$175.51 million	6.36	-$78.02 million	($0.15)	-51.93
XBiotech	$4.01 million	24.86	-$24.56 million	($1.08)	-3.03

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and XBiotech, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals	0	0	2	0	3.00
XBiotech	0	0	0	0	0.00

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 47.63%. Given Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than XBiotech.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

36.8% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.7% of XBiotech shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 33.1% of XBiotech shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to treat various diseases with unmet medical need in the United States. It offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

About XBiotech

XBiotech Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes True Human monoclonal antibodies for treating various diseases. The company focuses on developing a pipeline of product candidates targeting both inflammatory and infectious diseases. It is also developing interleukin-1 alpha therapies to treat variety of medical conditions, such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, or arthritis; and mediates tissue breakdown, angiogenesis, the formation of blood clots, malaise, muscle wasting, and inflammation. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.