NKGen Biotech (NYSE:NKGN) vs. Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) Critical Survey

Alector (NASDAQ:ALEC) and NKGen Biotech (NYSE:NKGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Alector has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NKGen Biotech has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.8% of Alector shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.2% of NKGen Biotech shares are held by institutional investors. 9.1% of Alector shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of NKGen Biotech shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Alector and NKGen Biotech”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alector	$55.28 million	8.70	-$130.39 million	($1.38)	-3.62
NKGen Biotech	$80,000.00	128.79	-$82.94 million	($5.08)	-0.08

NKGen Biotech has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Alector. Alector is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NKGen Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Alector and NKGen Biotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alector	-290.66%	-102.63%	-25.70%
NKGen Biotech	N/A	N/A	-479.36%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Alector and NKGen Biotech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alector	0	0	5	0	3.00
NKGen Biotech	0	0	0	0	N/A

Alector currently has a consensus price target of $17.75, suggesting a potential upside of 255.71%. Given Alector’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Alector is more favorable than NKGen Biotech.

Summary

Alector beats NKGen Biotech on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alector

Alector, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of neurodegeneration diseases. Its products include AL001, an immune activity in the brain with genetic links to multiple neurodegenerative disorders, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases; and AL101 that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The company also offers AL002, a product candidate that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Alector, Inc. has a collaboration agreement with Adimab, LLC for the research and development of antibodies; and a strategic collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc for the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibodies, such as AL001 and AL101 to treat neurodegenerative diseases. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About NKGen Biotech

NKGen Biotech, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company that focuses on the development and commercialization of autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK natural killer cell therapies. It develops SNK01, an autologous NK cell therapy; and SNK02, an allogeneic NK cell therapy, which are in Phase 1 clinical trials. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Santa Ana, California.