Reviewing Akari Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKTX) and Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS)

Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ:ABUS) and Akari Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKTX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Arbutus Biopharma and Akari Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arbutus Biopharma	0	0	4	0	3.00
Akari Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Arbutus Biopharma presently has a consensus target price of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 66.16%. Given Arbutus Biopharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Arbutus Biopharma is more favorable than Akari Therapeutics.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Arbutus Biopharma and Akari Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arbutus Biopharma	$6.74 million	93.03	-$72.85 million	($0.43)	-7.70
Akari Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$10.01 million	N/A	N/A

Akari Therapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Arbutus Biopharma.

Profitability

This table compares Arbutus Biopharma and Akari Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arbutus Biopharma	-1,137.65%	-68.18%	-51.55%
Akari Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Arbutus Biopharma has a beta of 1.93, suggesting that its stock price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Akari Therapeutics has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

43.8% of Arbutus Biopharma shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.1% of Akari Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Arbutus Biopharma shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 38.9% of Akari Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Arbutus Biopharma beats Akari Therapeutics on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arbutus Biopharma

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the United States. Its HBV product pipeline consists of imdusiran (AB-729), a proprietary subcutaneously-delivered RNAi therapeutic product candidate that suppresses all HBV antigens, including HBsAg expression. The company’s research and development programs include AB-101, an oral PD-L1 inhibitor to reawaken patients’ HBV-specific immune system; and small molecule antiviral medicines to treat coronaviruses, including COVID-19. It has licensing agreements with Gritstone Oncology, Inc; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Qilu Pharmaceuticals Co, Ltd; Assembly Biosciences, Inc.; Acuitas Therapeutics, Inc.; and Antios Therapeutics, Inc. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation also has a clinical collaboration agreement with Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc to evaluate VTP-300. The company was formerly known as Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Arbutus Biopharma Corporation in July 2015. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is headquartered in Warminster, Pennsylvania.

About Akari Therapeutics

Akari Therapeutics, Plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing advanced therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its lead product candidate is nomacopan, a second-generation complement inhibitor that prevents inflammatory and prothrombotic activities, including paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, Guillain-Barré syndrome, hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy, and bullous pemphigoid, as well as pre-clinical program developing long-acting PASylated-nomacopan for treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration. The company is based in London, the United Kingdom.