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EXEL vs. INCY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks have likely encountered both Exelixis (EXEL - Free Report) and Incyte (INCY - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Exelixis and Incyte are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that EXEL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

EXEL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.53, while INCY has a forward P/E of 53.46. We also note that EXEL has a PEG ratio of 0.74. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. INCY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.

Another notable valuation metric for EXEL is its P/B ratio of 4.24. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, INCY has a P/B of 4.25.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to EXEL's Value grade of B and INCY's Value grade of C.

EXEL has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than INCY, so it seems like value investors will conclude that EXEL is the superior option right now.


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