Head to Head Contrast: Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) versus Seelos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SEEL)

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) and Seelos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SEEL) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Viking Therapeutics and Seelos Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viking Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$85.89 million	($0.93)	-72.50
Seelos Therapeutics	$2.20 million	0.20	-$37.88 million	N/A	N/A

Seelos Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Viking Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.0% of Viking Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.4% of Seelos Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Viking Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Seelos Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Viking Therapeutics and Seelos Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viking Therapeutics	N/A	-15.05%	-14.52%
Seelos Therapeutics	203.13%	N/A	-431.47%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Viking Therapeutics and Seelos Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viking Therapeutics	0	0	10	1	3.09
Seelos Therapeutics	0	2	1	0	2.33

Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $108.60, indicating a potential upside of 61.51%. Seelos Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $240.00, indicating a potential upside of 114,185.71%. Given Seelos Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seelos Therapeutics is more favorable than Viking Therapeutics.

Risk & Volatility

Viking Therapeutics has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Seelos Therapeutics has a beta of 1.85, suggesting that its stock price is 85% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Seelos Therapeutics beats Viking Therapeutics on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD. It also develops VK5211, an orally available non-steroidal selective androgen receptor modulator that is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of patients recovering from non-elective hip fracture surgery; VK0612, an orally available Phase IIb-ready drug candidate for type 2 diabetes; VK2735, a novel dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide, which is in Phase 1 SAD/MAD clinical trial, and VK0214, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the TRß for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Seelos Therapeutics

Seelos Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system, respiratory, and other disorders. The company's lead programs are SLS-002, an intranasal racemic ketamine for the treatment of acute suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with major depressive disorders; SLS-005, a protein stabilizer for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Sanfilippo syndrome; and SLS-006, a partial dopamine agonist for the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Its preclinical programs include SLS-007, a peptidic inhibitor to treat patients with PD; SLS-008 for the treatment of pediatric indications; SLS-004 for the treatment of PD; SLS-010, an H3 receptor antagonist; and SLS-012. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York.