Analyzing BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) and Relay Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RLAY)

Relay Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RLAY) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Relay Therapeutics and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Relay Therapeutics	N/A	-43.17%	-39.22%
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	30.16%	-84.33%	61.35%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Relay Therapeutics and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Relay Therapeutics	1	0	4	1	2.83
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	1	2	10	0	2.69

Relay Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $15.40, indicating a potential upside of 59.75%. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $19.64, indicating a potential upside of 131.02%. Given BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Relay Therapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Relay Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.9% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Relay Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Relay Therapeutics has a beta of 1.55, indicating that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Relay Therapeutics	$15.35 million	112.24	-$276.48 million	($1.62)	-5.95
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals	$874.84 million	2.44	$263.86 million	$1.20	7.08

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

Summary

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals beats Relay Therapeutics on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Relay Therapeutics

Relay Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage precision medicines company. It engages in transforming the drug discovery process with an initial focus on enhancing small molecule therapeutic discovery in targeted oncology and genetic disease indications. The company’s lead product candidates include RLY-4008, an oral small molecule inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2), which is in a first-in-human clinical trial for patients with advanced or metastatic FGFR2-altered solid tumors; RLY-2608, a lead mutant-PI3Ka inhibitor program that targets phosphoinostide 3 kinase alpha; and Migoprotafib (GDC-1971), an oral, small molecule, potent and selective inhibitor of the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 that binds and stabilizes Src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase-2 (SHP2) as a monotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. In addition, it has collaboration and license agreements with D. E. Shaw Research, LLC to research certain biological targets through the use of D. E. Shaw Research computational modeling capabilities focused on analysis of protein motion to develop and commercialize compounds and products directed to such targets; and Genentech, Inc. for the development and commercialization of GDC-1971. The company was formerly known as Allostery, Inc. and changed its name to Relay Therapeutics, Inc. in December 2015. Relay Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to treat rare diseases. The company markets peramivir injection, an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza under the RAPIVAB, RAPIACTA, and PERAMIFLU names; and ORLADEYO, an oral serine protease inhibitor to treat hereditary angioedema. It is also developing BCX10013, an oral factor D inhibitor for complement-mediated diseases. The company has collaborations and in-license relationships with the Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Seqirus UK Limited; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; Green Cross Corporation; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and The University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Industrial Research, Ltd. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.