Reviewing HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) and ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)

HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) and ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares HCW Biologics and ImmunityBio”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HCW Biologics	$2.57 million	1.64	-$30.02 million	($12.06)	-0.13
ImmunityBio	$14.74 million	151.69	-$413.56 million	($0.41)	-5.54

HCW Biologics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than ImmunityBio. ImmunityBio is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCW Biologics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

HCW Biologics has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ImmunityBio has a beta of 0.1, suggesting that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for HCW Biologics and ImmunityBio, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HCW Biologics	1	0	1	0	2.00
ImmunityBio	1	0	5	0	2.67

HCW Biologics presently has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2,143.59%. ImmunityBio has a consensus price target of $10.40, suggesting a potential upside of 358.15%. Given HCW Biologics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe HCW Biologics is more favorable than ImmunityBio.

Profitability

This table compares HCW Biologics and ImmunityBio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HCW Biologics	-2,849.17%	N/A	-43.48%
ImmunityBio	-422.28%	N/A	-98.33%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

3.0% of HCW Biologics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.6% of ImmunityBio shares are held by institutional investors. 42.7% of HCW Biologics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 69.5% of ImmunityBio shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

ImmunityBio beats HCW Biologics on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HCW Biologics

HCW Biologics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing novel immunotherapies for chronic, low-grade inflammation, and age-related diseases in the United States. The company's lead products include HCW9218, which is in Phase 1 clinical chemo-refractory/chemo-resistant solid tumors with pancreatic, ovarian, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, as well as Phase 2 clinical trial with metastatic advanced stage ovarian cancer patients; and HCW9302 for autoimmune and proinflammatory diseases, such as alopecia areata diseases. It also develops HCW9201, a cell-based therapy that is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia; and HCW9206, an injectable immunotherapeutic to use as adjuvant for adoptive cell therapy in cancer treatment. HCW Biologics Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.

About ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing therapies and vaccines that bolster the natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases. Its platforms for the development of biologic product candidates include antibody-cytokine fusion proteins; DNA, RNA, and recombinant protein vaccines; and cell therapies. The company's platforms have generated therapeutic agents that are currently being or planned to be studied in clinical trials across various indications in liquid and solid tumors, including bladder, lung and colorectal cancers, and glioblastoma multiforme. Its lead biologic product candidate is Anktiva, an FDA-approved immunotherapy in combination with bacillus calmette-guérin (BCG) for the treatment of adult patients with BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ, with or without papillary tumors. The company has collaboration agreements with National Cancer Institute. It also has license agreements with 3M Innovative Properties Company; Access to Advanced Health Institute; LadRx Corporation; Sanford Health; Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd.; Viracta Therapeutics, Inc.; and GlobeImmune, Inc. The company is based in San Diego, California.