Head to Head Comparison: Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Akebia Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	13.10	-$381.39 million	($2.44)	-30.68
Akebia Therapeutics	$236.20 million	1.62	-$5.34 million	($0.02)	-71.50

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Akebia Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	2	17	0	2.80
Akebia Therapeutics	1	1	3	1	2.67

Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $95.15, indicating a potential upside of 27.09%. Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $5.25, indicating a potential upside of 267.13%. Given Akebia Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Akebia Therapeutics is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-40.36%	-68.82%	-12.34%
Akebia Therapeutics	-2.26%	-16.70%	-1.53%

Risk and Volatility

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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

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.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company’s lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients. It offers Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control the serum phosphorus levels in adult patients with DD-CKD on dialysis; and the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with CKD not on dialysis. The company’s product pipeline includes AKB-9090, a drug targeting critical-care indications; and AKB-10108, a drug targeting conditions related to premature birth. It has collaboration agreements with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as research and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for the development and commercialization of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase targeted compounds worldwide. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.