Head to Head Survey: Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE)

Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RXRX) and bluebird bio (NASDAQ:BLUE) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Recursion Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, bluebird bio has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Recursion Pharmaceuticals and bluebird bio”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	$58.49 million	40.14	-$328.07 million	($1.66)	-3.52
bluebird bio	$83.81 million	0.49	-$211.91 million	($45.54)	-0.09

bluebird bio has higher revenue and earnings than Recursion Pharmaceuticals. Recursion Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than bluebird bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Recursion Pharmaceuticals and bluebird bio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	-579.52%	-76.56%	-55.68%
bluebird bio	-565.74%	-322.46%	-53.17%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Recursion Pharmaceuticals and bluebird bio, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Recursion Pharmaceuticals	0	4	2	0	2.33
bluebird bio	0	6	2	0	2.25

Recursion Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $8.20, suggesting a potential upside of 40.41%. bluebird bio has a consensus price target of $44.60, suggesting a potential upside of 964.44%. Given bluebird bio’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe bluebird bio is more favorable than Recursion Pharmaceuticals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.1% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of bluebird bio shares are held by institutional investors. 15.8% of Recursion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of bluebird bio shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Recursion Pharmaceuticals beats bluebird bio on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Recursion Pharmaceuticals

Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the decoding biology by integrating technological innovations across biology, chemistry, automation, data science, and engineering to industrialize drug discovery. The company develops REC-994, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat cerebral cavernous malformation; REC-2282, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trial for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 2; REC-4881, which is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial to treat familial adenomatous polyposis; REC-3964, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat Clostridioides difficile infection; and REC-4881, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat AXIN1 or APC mutant cancers. Its preclinical stage product includes RBM39 to treat HR-proficient ovarian cancer. The company has collaboration and agreement with Bayer AG; the University of Utah Research Foundation; Ohio State Innovation Foundation; Roche & Genentech; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About bluebird bio

bluebird bio, Inc., a biotechnology company, researches, develops, and commercializes gene therapies for severe genetic diseases. Its product candidates for severe genetic diseases include ZYNTEGLO (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassemia; lovotibeglogene autotemcel for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD); and SKYSONA (elivaldogene autotemcel) to treat cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. The company’s clinical development programs include HGB-205, HGB-206, and HGB-210 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lovo-cel in the treatment of patients with SCD; and HGB-204, HGB-205, HGB-207, and HGB-212 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of beti-cel in the treatment of patients with ß-thalassemia. It has license agreement with Orchard Therapeutics Limited. The company was formerly known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and changed its name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010. bluebird bio, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts.