Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) versus Acumen Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ABOS) Critical Survey

Acumen Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ABOS) and Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ:NBIX) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Acumen Pharmaceuticals and Neurocrine Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acumen Pharmaceuticals	0	0	3	1	3.25
Neurocrine Biosciences	0	5	18	1	2.83

Acumen Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 276.57%. Neurocrine Biosciences has a consensus target price of $163.91, indicating a potential upside of 37.59%. Given Acumen Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Acumen Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Neurocrine Biosciences.

Volatility and Risk

Acumen Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.04, meaning that its stock price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Neurocrine Biosciences has a beta of 0.35, meaning that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.0% of Acumen Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of Neurocrine Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 7.1% of Acumen Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Neurocrine Biosciences shares are held by 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 Acumen Pharmaceuticals and Neurocrine Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acumen Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-32.99%	-27.99%
Neurocrine Biosciences	17.21%	15.68%	11.38%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Acumen Pharmaceuticals and Neurocrine Biosciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acumen Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$52.37 million	($1.38)	-1.73
Neurocrine Biosciences	$1.89 billion	6.39	$249.70 million	$3.73	31.94

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

Summary

Neurocrine Biosciences beats Acumen Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acumen Pharmaceuticals

Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops targeted therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The company focuses on advancing a targeted immunotherapy drug candidate sabirnetug (ACU193), a recombinant humanized immunoglobulin gamma 2 that completed Phase I clinical trial to target soluble amyloid-beta oligomers. The company has a license agreement with Lonza Sales AG to manufacture and commercialize sabirnetug; and a collaboration and license agreement with Halozyme, Inc. for the development of a subcutaneous formulation of sabirnetug. Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia.

About Neurocrine Biosciences

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. discovers, develops, and markets pharmaceuticals for neurological, neuroendocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders in the United States and internationally. The company’s products include INGREZZA for tardive dyskinesia and chorea associated with Huntington’s disease; ALKINDI for adrenal insufficiency; Efmody capsules for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia; Orilissa tablets for endometriosis; and Oriahnn capsules to treat uterine fibroids. Its product candidates in clinical development include valbenazine to treat dyskinetic cerebral palsy in pediatrics and adults; NBI-921352 to treat developmental and epileptic encephalopathy syndrome in pediatrics and adults; NBI-827104 to treat epileptic encephalopathy with continuous spike-and-wave during sleep; NBI-1076986 to treat movement disorders; crinecerfront to treat congenital adrenal hyperplasia in adults and children; EFMODY to treat congenital adrenal hyperplasia and adrenal insufficiency in adults; valbenazine for the adjunctive treatment of schizophrenia; NBI-1065845 for the treatment of inadequate response to treatment in major depressive disorder; luvadaxistat to treat cognitive impairment related to schizophrenia; NBI-1117568 for the treatment of schizophrenia; NBI-1070770 to treat major depressive disorder; NBI-1117570 for the treatment of symptoms of psychosis and cognition in neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions; and NBI-1117569, NBI-1117567, and NBI-1065890 to treat CNS indications. The company also has license and collaboration agreements with Heptares Therapeutics Limited; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd; Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.; BIAL Portela & Ca, S.A.; Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation; and AbbVie Inc. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.