Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) versus Acrivon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRV) Head to Head Contrast

Acrivon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRV) and Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Acrivon Therapeutics has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aquestive Therapeutics has a beta of 2.85, indicating that its share price is 185% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.6% of Acrivon Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.5% of Acrivon Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Acrivon Therapeutics and Aquestive Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acrivon Therapeutics	N/A	-47.31%	-43.10%
Aquestive Therapeutics	-44.07%	N/A	-28.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Acrivon Therapeutics and Aquestive Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acrivon Therapeutics	0	0	6	0	3.00
Aquestive Therapeutics	0	0	6	1	3.14

Acrivon Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $23.83, indicating a potential upside of 213.60%. Aquestive Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $8.67, indicating a potential upside of 77.23%. Given Acrivon Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Acrivon Therapeutics is more favorable than Aquestive Therapeutics.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Acrivon Therapeutics and Aquestive Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acrivon Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$60.39 million	($2.88)	-2.64
Aquestive Therapeutics	$58.36 million	7.63	-$7.87 million	($0.42)	-11.64

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

Summary

Aquestive Therapeutics beats Acrivon Therapeutics on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acrivon Therapeutics

Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing oncology medicines for the patients whose tumors are predicted to be sensitive to each specific medicine by utilizing its proteomics-based patient responder identification platform. The company's Acrivon Predictive Precision Proteomics, a precision medicine platform enables the creation of drug specific proprietary OncoSignature companion diagnostics that are used to identify the patients to benefit from its drug candidates. Its lead clinical candidate is ACR-368, a selective small molecule inhibitor targeting CHK1 and CHK2, which is in Phase II clinical trial across various tumor types, including platinum-resistant ovarian, endometrial, and bladder cancer. The company is also developing its preclinical stage pipeline programs targeting critical nodes in the DNA damage response, or DDR, pathways; and ACR-2316, a dual WEE1/PKMYT1 inhibitor. Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Aquestive Therapeutics

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a pharmaceutical company in the United States and internationally. The company markets Sympazan, an oral soluble film formulation of clobazam for the treatment of lennox-gastaut syndrome; Suboxone, a sublingual film formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone for the treatment of opioid dependence; Zuplenz, an oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and post-operative recovery; and Azstarys, a once-daily product for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its proprietary product candidates comprise Libervant, a buccal soluble film formulation of diazepam for the treatment of seizures; KYNMOBI, a sublingual film formulation of apomorphine for the treatment of episodic off-periods in Parkinson's disease; and Exservan, an oral soluble film formulation of riluzole for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The company's proprietary pipeline of complex molecule product includes AQST-108, a sublingual film formulation delivering systemic epinephrine for the treatment of conditions other than anaphylaxis; and Anaphylm, an epinephrine sublingual film for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. In addition, it develops Adrenaverse, an epinephrine prodrug platform. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Warren, New Jersey.