Critical Comparison: 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) & 2seventy bio (NASDAQ:TSVT)

89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) and 2seventy bio (NASDAQ:TSVT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 89bio and 2seventy bio’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
89bio	N/A	N/A	-$142.19 million	($2.01)	-4.44
2seventy bio	$100.39 million	2.37	-$217.57 million	($4.42)	-1.05

89bio has higher earnings, but lower revenue than 2seventy bio. 89bio is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than 2seventy bio, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of 2seventy bio shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of 89bio shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of 2seventy bio shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for 89bio and 2seventy bio, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
89bio	0	2	5	0	2.71
2seventy bio	0	5	3	0	2.38

89bio presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 225.11%. 2seventy bio has a consensus price target of $13.17, suggesting a potential upside of 184.38%. Given 89bio’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe 89bio is more favorable than 2seventy bio.

Profitability

This table compares 89bio and 2seventy bio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
89bio	N/A	-31.01%	-27.84%
2seventy bio	-216.73%	-59.19%	-29.67%

Risk and Volatility

89bio has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, 2seventy bio has a beta of 1.84, meaning that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

89bio beats 2seventy bio on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 89bio

89bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of liver and cardio-metabolic diseases. Its lead product candidate is pegozafermin, a glycoPEGylated analog of fibroblast growth factor 21 for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About 2seventy bio

2seventy bio, Inc., a cell and gene therapy company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of treatments for cancer in the United States. The company's products pipeline includes Abecma, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell product candidates for the treatment of multiple myeloma. It has a collaboration arrangement with Bristol Myers Squibb Company. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.