Head to Head Comparison: Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) vs. Neoleukin Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NLTX)

Neoleukin Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NLTX) and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Neoleukin Therapeutics and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Neoleukin Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	1	2	10	0	2.69

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $347.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.69%. Given Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Neoleukin Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Neoleukin Therapeutics and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Neoleukin Therapeutics	N/A	-37.22%	-30.91%
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-71.78%	-53.25%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Neoleukin Therapeutics and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Neoleukin Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$57.56 million	($3.11)	-7.56
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	$76.81 million	88.30	-$373.63 million	($25.08)	-12.40

Neoleukin Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Neoleukin Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

52.4% of Neoleukin Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Neoleukin Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.8% of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Neoleukin Therapeutics has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -0.42, indicating that its stock price is 142% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Neoleukin Therapeutics

Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops immunotherapies for cancer, inflammation, and autoimmunity disorders using protein design technology. The company's lead product candidate is NL-201, a de novo protein designed to mimic the therapeutic activity of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-2/IL-15 for the treatment of various types of cancer, including renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. The company was formerly known as Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc. in August 2019. Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutics for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States. Its lead product candidate is resmetirom, a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for treating NASH. The company is headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.