Comparing Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) & Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT)
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemIovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA – Get Free Report) and Editas Medicine (NASDAQ:EDIT – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.
Volatility & Risk
Iovance Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Editas Medicine has a beta of 2.09, suggesting that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
77.0% of Iovance Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.9% of Editas Medicine shares are held by institutional investors. 7.8% of Iovance Biotherapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Editas Medicine shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Iovance Biotherapeutics and Editas Medicine”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Iovance Biotherapeutics | $263.50 million | 16.41 | -$390.98 million | ($0.73) | -13.08 |
| Editas Medicine | $40.52 million | 10.06 | -$160.06 million | ($0.75) | -3.54 |
Editas Medicine has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Iovance Biotherapeutics. Iovance Biotherapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Editas Medicine, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Iovance Biotherapeutics and Editas Medicine’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Iovance Biotherapeutics | -89.11% | -40.51% | -31.65% |
| Editas Medicine | -157.32% | -196.63% | -38.17% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Iovance Biotherapeutics and Editas Medicine, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Iovance Biotherapeutics | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2.45 |
| Editas Medicine | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.60 |
Iovance Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $8.89, indicating a potential downside of 6.87%. Editas Medicine has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 125.99%. Given Editas Medicine’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Editas Medicine is more favorable than Iovance Biotherapeutics.
Summary
Iovance Biotherapeutics beats Editas Medicine on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Iovance Biotherapeutics
Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc., a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops and commercializes cell therapies using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumor cancers in the United States. The company offers Amtagvi, a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy used to treat adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; and Proleukin, an interleukin-2 product for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. It also develops lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab to treat frontline advanced melanoma patients; LN-145 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and solid tumor cancers; IOV-4001, which is in Phase 1/2 IOV-GM1-201 clinical trial, for the treatment of NSCLC; and lifileucel for gynecological cancers. The company has collaborations and licensing agreements with WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc.; National Institutes of Health; the National Cancer Institute; H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center; The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Cellectis S.A.; Novartis Pharma AG; and Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals GmbH. The company was formerly known as Lion Biotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. in June 2017. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.
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.