Head-To-Head Analysis: Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) versus The Competition

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) is one of 844 public companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Nektar Therapeutics to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nektar Therapeutics	$54.59 million	-$164.08 million	-5.74
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	$739.36 million	$12.29 million	-18.09

Nektar Therapeutics’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Nektar Therapeutics. Nektar Therapeutics is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Nektar Therapeutics has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nektar Therapeutics’ peers have a beta of -1.84, indicating that their average share price is 284% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.9% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are owned by company 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 Nektar Therapeutics and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nektar Therapeutics	-287.84%	-37.87%	-25.67%
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	-12,323.33%	-195.38%	-30.39%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Nektar Therapeutics and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nektar Therapeutics	1	4	10	1	2.69
Nektar Therapeutics Competitors	9869	15279	45589	1598	2.54

Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $130.67, indicating a potential upside of 239.92%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 120.17%. Given Nektar Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Nektar Therapeutics is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Nektar Therapeutics beats its peers on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, California. It discovers and develops medicines, with a current focus on treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its lead investigational program, rezpegaldesleukin (REZPEG), is designed to stimulate regulatory T cells, which help regulate immune responses. Nektar is studying the candidate in clinical trials for immune-mediated conditions; it is not an approved medicine. Founded in 1990 as Inhale Therapeutic Systems, the company later adopted the Nektar name as it expanded its drug-development work.