uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE – Get Free Report) and Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares uniQure and Vir Biotechnology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| uniQure | -1,350.73% | -111.96% | -29.01% |
| Vir Biotechnology | N/A | -29.99% | -23.62% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares uniQure and Vir Biotechnology”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 | 97.33 | -$198.97 million | ($4.01) | -5.63 |
| Vir Biotechnology | $68.56 million | 28.88 | -$437.99 million | ($1.86) | -6.29 |
uniQure has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Vir Biotechnology. Vir Biotechnology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than uniQure, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
78.8% of uniQure shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of Vir Biotechnology shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of uniQure shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Vir Biotechnology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
uniQure has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vir Biotechnology has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for uniQure and Vir Biotechnology, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| uniQure | 1 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2.75 |
| Vir Biotechnology | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2.67 |
uniQure currently has a consensus price target of $53.73, suggesting a potential upside of 137.84%. Vir Biotechnology has a consensus price target of $21.86, suggesting a potential upside of 86.81%. Given uniQure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe uniQure is more favorable than Vir Biotechnology.
Summary
uniQure beats Vir Biotechnology on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About uniQure
uniQure N.V. develops treatments for patients suffering from rare and other devastating diseases. It offers HEMGENIX that has completed Phase III HOPE-B pivotal trial for the treatment of hemophilia B. The company also develops AMT-130, a gene therapy that is in Phase I/II clinical study for the treatment of Huntington's disease. In addition, it is developing AMT-162, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of superoxide dismutase 1- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AMT-260 that is in preclinical trial to treat temporal lobe epilepsy; AMT-191, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of fabry disease; AMT-161 that is in preclinical trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by mutations; AMT-240, which is in preclinical trial to for the treatment of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease; and AMT-210 that is in preclinical trial to treat Parkinson's disease. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
About Vir Biotechnology
Vir Biotechnology, Inc., an immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. Its clinical development pipeline consists of product candidates targeting hepatitis delta virus (HDV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The company’s preclinical candidates include those targeting influenza A and B, coronavirus disease 2019, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (MPV), and human papillomavirus (HPV). The company has grant agreements with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and National Institutes of Health; an option and license agreement with Brii Biosciences Limited; a collaboration and license agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; license agreements with MedImmune, LLC; collaboration with WuXi Biologics (Hong Kong) Limited and Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd.; and a collaborative research agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals S.A, as well as license agreement with Sanofi for three clinical-stage masked T-cell engagers (TCEs) and exclusive use of the protease-cleavable masking platform for oncology and infectious diseases. It also has a manufacturing agreement with Samsung Biologics Co.,Ltd. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
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