Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ:IKNA) and Tourmaline Bio (NASDAQ:TRML) Critical Analysis

Tourmaline Bio (NASDAQ:TRML) and Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ:IKNA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Tourmaline Bio and Ikena Oncology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tourmaline Bio	0	0	6	0	3.00
Ikena Oncology	0	1	1	0	2.50

Tourmaline Bio presently has a consensus price target of $45.20, suggesting a potential upside of 252.30%. Ikena Oncology has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 165.49%. Given Tourmaline Bio’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Tourmaline Bio is more favorable than Ikena Oncology.

Profitability

This table compares Tourmaline Bio and Ikena Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tourmaline Bio	N/A	-20.97%	-20.56%
Ikena Oncology	N/A	-36.88%	-33.08%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.9% of Tourmaline Bio shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Ikena Oncology shares are held by institutional investors. 11.0% of Tourmaline Bio shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Ikena Oncology shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tourmaline Bio and Ikena Oncology”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tourmaline Bio	N/A	N/A	-$42.12 million	($2.87)	-4.47
Ikena Oncology	$659,000.00	82.75	-$68.17 million	($1.01)	-1.12

Tourmaline Bio has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ikena Oncology. Tourmaline Bio is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ikena Oncology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Tourmaline Bio has a beta of 2.14, indicating that its stock price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ikena Oncology has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Tourmaline Bio beats Ikena Oncology on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tourmaline Bio

Tourmaline Bio, Inc. operates as a clinical biotechnology company that develops medicines for patients with life-altering immune and inflammatory diseases. It develops TOUR006, a human anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to interleukin-6, a key proinflammatory cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. The company's development pipeline comprises medicines and therapies for the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and thyroid eye disease (TED). The company was formerly known as Tourmaline Bio, LLC and changed its name to Tourmaline Bio, Inc. in September 2022. Tourmaline Bio, Inc. was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Ikena Oncology

Ikena Oncology, Inc. operates as an oncology company that develops differentiated therapies for patients in need that target nodes of cancer growth, spread, and therapeutic resistance in the United States. Its lead program is IK-930, an internally discovered, oral, TEAD1-selective, small molecule inhibitor of the Hippo pathway. The company also develops IK-595, a molecular glue designed to trap MEK and RAF in an inactive complex. Ikena Oncology, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.