Critical Contrast: Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) and Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX)

Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT) and Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.9% of Editas Medicine shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of Abivax shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Editas Medicine shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Editas Medicine and Abivax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Editas Medicine	-608.88%	-200.25%	-68.57%
Abivax	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Editas Medicine and Abivax”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Editas Medicine	$38.90 million	9.06	-$237.09 million	($2.85)	-1.38
Abivax	N/A	N/A	-$190.71 million	N/A	N/A

Abivax has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Editas Medicine.

Risk and Volatility

Editas Medicine has a beta of 2.18, indicating that its share price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abivax has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Editas Medicine and Abivax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Editas Medicine	3	7	3	1	2.14
Abivax	1	0	8	1	2.90

Editas Medicine currently has a consensus price target of $5.10, suggesting a potential upside of 30.10%. Abivax has a consensus price target of $102.14, suggesting a potential upside of 21.71%. Given Editas Medicine’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Editas Medicine is more favorable than Abivax.

Summary

Abivax beats Editas Medicine on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine, Inc., a clinical stage genome editing company, focuses on developing transformative genomic medicines to treat a range of serious diseases. It develops a proprietary gene editing platform based on CRISPR technology. The company develops EDIT-101, which is in Phase 1/2 BRILLIANCE trial for Leber Congenital Amaurosis; and reni-cel, a clinical development gene-edited medicine to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. In addition, the company is developing alpha-beta T cells for solid and liquid tumors; and gamma delta T cell therapies to treat cancer. It has a research collaboration with Juno Therapeutics, Inc. to develop engineered T cells for cancer; strategic alliance and option agreement with Allergan Pharmaceuticals International Limited. The company was formerly known as Gengine, Inc. and changed its name to Editas Medicine, Inc. in November 2013. Editas Medicine, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Abivax

ABIVAX Société Anonyme, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing therapeutics that harness the body's natural regulatory mechanisms to stablize the immune response in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. The company is evaluating its lead drug candidate, obefazimod, in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults. ABIVAX Société Anonyme was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Paris, France.