uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) and Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) Head-To-Head Contrast

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) and Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for uniQure and Exelixis, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
uniQure	1	3	11	1	2.75
Exelixis	1	10	6	1	2.39

uniQure currently has a consensus target price of $56.83, suggesting a potential upside of 150.26%. Exelixis has a consensus target price of $58.85, suggesting a potential downside of 16.62%. Given uniQure’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe uniQure is more favorable than Exelixis.

Profitability

This table compares uniQure and Exelixis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
uniQure	-1,154.84%	-96.34%	-26.40%
Exelixis	35.45%	45.54%	33.90%

Risk and Volatility

uniQure has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exelixis has a beta of 0.45, meaning that its stock price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.8% of uniQure shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.3% of Exelixis shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of uniQure shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Exelixis shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares uniQure and Exelixis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
uniQure	$16.10 million	98.94	-$198.97 million	($3.51)	-6.47
Exelixis	$2.32 billion	7.42	$782.57 million	$3.34	21.13

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

Summary

Exelixis beats uniQure on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About uniQure

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company that develops gene therapies for serious genetic and other diseases. The company uses adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to deliver genetic material to patients’ cells, with research and development operations in the United States and the Netherlands. Its programs have targeted conditions including Huntington’s disease, epilepsy and hemophilia B. uniQure developed the gene therapy now known as Hemgenix for hemophilia B; it is commercialized by CSL Behring under a partnership.

About Exelixis

Exelixis, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing medicines for cancer. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Alameda, California, the company has built its business around oncology treatments and continues to advance a pipeline of potential cancer therapies. Its principal marketed medicine is cabozantinib, sold in the United States as Cabometyx and Cometriq. Cabometyx is used to treat certain patients with advanced kidney, liver and thyroid cancers, while Cometriq is used for medullary thyroid cancer.