Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST – Get Free Report) and Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Aquestive Therapeutics and Altimmune, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Aquestive Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3.17 |
| Altimmune | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2.88 |
Aquestive Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $9.80, indicating a potential upside of 106.97%. Altimmune has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 148.45%. Given Altimmune’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Altimmune is more favorable than Aquestive Therapeutics.
Risk and Volatility
Profitability
This table compares Aquestive Therapeutics and Altimmune’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Aquestive Therapeutics | -59.75% | N/A | -33.96% |
| Altimmune | -199,076.92% | -55.81% | -50.60% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Aquestive Therapeutics and Altimmune”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Aquestive Therapeutics | $50.58 million | 8.54 | -$7.87 million | ($0.45) | -10.52 |
| Altimmune | $430,000.00 | 1,331.43 | -$88.45 million | ($1.55) | -5.19 |
Aquestive Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Altimmune. Aquestive Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Altimmune, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
32.5% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Altimmune shares are held by institutional investors. 7.9% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Altimmune shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Aquestive Therapeutics beats Altimmune on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Altimmune
Altimmune, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 trial for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It is also developing HepTcell, an immunotherapeutic product candidate, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. The company was formerly known as Vaxin Inc. and changed its name to Altimmune, Inc. in September 2015. Altimmune, Inc. was founded in 1997 is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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