Financial Analysis: Pharvaris (NASDAQ:PHVS) versus AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU)

Pharvaris (NASDAQ:PHVS) and AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pharvaris and AC Immune’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pharvaris	N/A	N/A	-$109.18 million	($2.68)	-6.34
AC Immune	$16.48 million	22.86	-$60.41 million	($0.69)	-5.52

AC Immune has higher revenue and earnings than Pharvaris. Pharvaris is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AC Immune, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Pharvaris has a beta of -3.1, suggesting that its share price is 410% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AC Immune has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Pharvaris and AC Immune, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pharvaris	1	0	4	0	2.60
AC Immune	0	0	2	0	3.00

Pharvaris currently has a consensus target price of $32.80, indicating a potential upside of 92.94%. AC Immune has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 214.96%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Pharvaris.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.4% of AC Immune shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of AC Immune shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Pharvaris and AC Immune’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pharvaris	N/A	-39.67%	-37.38%
AC Immune	N/A	-38.44%	-33.76%

Summary

AC Immune beats Pharvaris on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pharvaris

Pharvaris N.V., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for rare diseases. The company develops PHA121, a small molecule bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). It also develops PHVS416, an on-demand, rapid exposure soft capsule for patients suffering from acute HAE attacks which is under Phase 2 clinical trial; and PHVS719, a prophylactic extended-release tablet for HAE patients which is under Phase 1 clinical trial. The company operates in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Pharvaris N.V. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Leiden, the Netherlands.

About AC Immune

AC Immune SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, designs, and develops medicines and diagnostic products for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding. Its SupraAntigen and Morphomer platforms are designed to generate vaccines, antibodies, and small molecules, which selectively interact with misfolded proteins that are common in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. The company is developing Crenezumab, a humanized, conformation-specific monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase II clinical studies trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is also developing ACI-24, an anti-Abeta vaccine candidate that is in Phase II clinical study for AD, as well as completed Phase Ib clinical study for Down syndrome; ACI-35, an anti-Tau vaccine candidate that is in Phase Ib/2a clinical study; and Tau- positron emission tomography (PET) imaging tracer, which is in Phase II clinical study. In addition, the company is researching and developing small molecule Tau aggregation inhibitors for AD and NeuroOrphan indications. Further, it has discovery and preclinical stage molecules targeting range of neurodegenerative diseases, which include diagnostics targeting TDP-43, alpha-synuclein, and NLRP3. AC Immune SA has license agreements and collaborations with Genentech, Inc.; Biogen International GmbH; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Life Molecular Imaging SA; Eli Lilly and Company; and WuXi Biologics. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.