Contrasting Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS) & Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL)

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) and Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Replimune Group and Arcus Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Replimune Group	2	1	6	1	2.60
Arcus Biosciences	1	3	8	0	2.58

Replimune Group presently has a consensus price target of $11.86, indicating a potential downside of 20.79%. Arcus Biosciences has a consensus price target of $37.80, indicating a potential upside of 28.15%. Given Arcus Biosciences’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Arcus Biosciences is more favorable than Replimune Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Replimune Group and Arcus Biosciences”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Replimune Group	N/A	N/A	-$313.94 million	($3.38)	-4.43
Arcus Biosciences	$117.00 million	32.10	-$353.00 million	($3.90)	-7.56

Replimune Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Arcus Biosciences. Arcus Biosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Replimune Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.5% of Replimune Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Arcus Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Replimune Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.6% of Arcus Biosciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Replimune Group and Arcus Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Replimune Group	N/A	-128.57%	-82.35%
Arcus Biosciences	-393.16%	-89.54%	-45.61%

Volatility and Risk

Replimune Group has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arcus Biosciences has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Replimune Group

Replimune Group, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of oncolytic immunotherapies to treat cancer. The company's proprietary tumor-directed oncolytic immunotherapy product candidates are designed and intended to activate the immune system against cancer. Its lead product candidate is RP1, a selectively replicating version of HSV-1 that expresses GALV-GP R(-) and human GM-CSF, which is in Phase I/II clinical trials for a range of solid tumors; and that has completed Phase II clinical trials for treating cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. The company is also developing RP2, which is in Phase I clinical trials to express an anti-CTLA-4 antibody-like protein to block the inhibition of the immune response otherwise caused by CTLA-4; and RP3 that is in Phase I clinical trial to express immune-activating proteins that stimulate T cells. Replimune Group, Inc. was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

About Arcus Biosciences

Arcus Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes cancer therapies in the United States. The company's pipeline products include Domvanalimab, an anti-TIGIT antibody, which is in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trial; and AB308, an investigational anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial to study people with advanced solid and hematologic malignancies. It also develops Etrumadenant, a dual A2a/A2b adenosine receptor antagonist, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial; Quemliclustat, a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor, which is Phase 1b and Phase 2 clinical trial; Zimberelimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for metastatic cell lung cancer and monotherapy; and AB521, an oral and small-molecule inhibitor of HIF-2a, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of Von Hippel-Lindau disease. In addition, the company's preclinical pipeline products include AB598, a CD39 antibody; and AB801, a small molecule Axl inhibitor. It has a clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca to evaluate domvanalimab in combination with durvalumab in a registrational phase 3 clinical trial in patients with unresectable Stage 3 NSCLC; and BVF Partners L.P. to support the discovery and development of compounds for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Arcus Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.