Analyzing Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ:IKNA) & Kiromic BioPharma (NASDAQ:KRBP)

Kiromic BioPharma (NASDAQ:KRBP) and Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ:IKNA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Kiromic BioPharma has a beta of 1.97, suggesting that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ikena Oncology has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.9% of Kiromic BioPharma shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Ikena Oncology shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.6% of Kiromic BioPharma shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Ikena Oncology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kiromic BioPharma and Ikena Oncology”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kiromic BioPharma	N/A	N/A	-$20.95 million	($9.90)	-0.17
Ikena Oncology	$1.84 million	43.70	-$68.17 million	($1.58)	-1.06

Kiromic BioPharma has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ikena Oncology. Ikena Oncology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kiromic BioPharma, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Kiromic BioPharma and Ikena Oncology, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kiromic BioPharma	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ikena Oncology	0	1	2	0	2.67

Ikena Oncology has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 79.64%. Given Ikena Oncology’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ikena Oncology is more favorable than Kiromic BioPharma.

Profitability

This table compares Kiromic BioPharma and Ikena Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kiromic BioPharma	N/A	N/A	-188.53%
Ikena Oncology	N/A	-40.71%	-34.40%

Summary

Ikena Oncology beats Kiromic BioPharma on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kiromic BioPharma

Kiromic BioPharma, Inc., a clinical stage biotherapeutics company, utilizes engineered and non-engineered Gamma Delta T cell (GDT) technologies to develop therapies for solid tumors. The company develops Deltacel-01, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer; Isocel in combination with low-dose radiation to treat Mesothelin Isoform 2 positive solid malignancies; ALEXIS-ISO-1, an allogeneic GDT therapy product that targets an isoform of mesothelin; Procel in combination with low-dose radiation to treat PD-L1 positive solid malignancies; and ALEXIS-PRO-1, an allogeneic GDT therapy product that targets PD-L1. It has a license agreement with Longwood University; and a research and development collaboration agreement with Molipharma, S.R.L. The company was formerly known as Kiromic, Inc. and changed its name to Kiromic BioPharma, Inc. in December 2019. Kiromic BioPharma, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Ikena Oncology

Ikena Oncology, Inc. operates as an oncology company that develops differentiated therapies for patients in need that target nodes of cancer growth, spread, and therapeutic resistance in the United States. Its lead program is IK-930, an internally discovered, oral, TEAD1-selective, small molecule inhibitor of the Hippo pathway. The company also develops IK-595, a molecular glue designed to trap MEK and RAF in an inactive complex. Ikena Oncology, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.