Contrasting Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) and Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyAlnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY – Get Free Report) and Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.
Profitability
This table compares Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Zymeworks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals | 15.26% | 84.93% | 14.30% |
| Zymeworks | -405.31% | -72.30% | -37.18% |
Risk and Volatility
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zymeworks has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Zymeworks, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals | 0 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 2.87 |
| Zymeworks | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 2.75 |
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $367.20, indicating a potential upside of 53.28%. Zymeworks has a consensus target price of $41.00, indicating a potential upside of 54.31%. Given Zymeworks’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zymeworks is more favorable than Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
93.0% of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Zymeworks shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.5% of Zymeworks shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Zymeworks”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals | $3.71 billion | 8.63 | $313.75 million | $5.38 | 44.53 |
| Zymeworks | $105.96 million | 17.79 | -$81.13 million | ($2.02) | -13.15 |
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Zymeworks. Zymeworks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals beats Zymeworks on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics based on ribonucleic acid interference. Its marketed products include ONPATTRO (patisiran) for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis in adults; AMVUTTRA for the treatment of hATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy in adults; GIVLAARI for the treatment of adults with acute hepatic porphyria; and OXLUMO for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria type 1. In addition, the company develops patisiran for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis, or ATTR amyloidosis, with cardiomyopathy; cemdisiran to treat complement-mediated diseases; Belcesiran for the treatment of alpha-1 liver disease; Elebsiran to treat chronic HBV infection; Zilebesiran to treat hypertension; ALN-APP to treat Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy; and ALN-HSD to treat NASH. Further, it offers Fitusiran for the treatment of hemophilia, Inclisiran to treat hypercholesterolemia, lumasiran for the treatment of advanced PH1, and vutrisiran for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis, which is in phase 3 clinical trial. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has strategic collaborations with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to discover, develop, and commercialize RNAi therapeutics for a range of diseases by addressing therapeutic targets expressed in the eye and CNS; and Roche to develop pharmaceutical products containing zilebesiran. It also has license and collaboration agreements with Novartis AG; Vir Biotechnology, Inc.; Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and PeptiDream, Inc. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Zymeworks
Zymeworks Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes biotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s lead product candidates include zanidatamab, a novel bispecific antibody that is in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of biliary tract, gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas, and breast cancer; and ZW49, a biparatopic anti- human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) antibody-drug conjugate that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of advanced or metastatic HER2-expressing tumors. The company has strategic partnerships with Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Ltd.; Eli Lilly and Company; Bristol-Myers Squibb company; GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property Development Ltd.; Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.; Janssen Biotech, Inc.; and BeiGene, Ltd. It also has licensing and research collaboration with LEO Pharma A/S to discover and develop bispecific antibodies; and Iconic Therapeutics, Inc. Zymeworks Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.