Financial Analysis: Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) and Amicus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FOLD)

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) and Amicus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FOLD) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Protagonist Therapeutics and Amicus Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Protagonist Therapeutics	52.76%	34.68%	30.98%
Amicus Therapeutics	-10.62%	12.44%	2.60%

Volatility and Risk

Protagonist Therapeutics has a beta of 2.34, meaning that its share price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amicus Therapeutics has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.6% of Protagonist Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Protagonist Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Amicus Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Protagonist Therapeutics and Amicus Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Protagonist Therapeutics	0	1	7	1	3.00
Amicus Therapeutics	0	2	7	0	2.78

Protagonist Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $55.89, indicating a potential upside of 45.73%. Amicus Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $16.75, indicating a potential upside of 89.05%. Given Amicus Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Amicus Therapeutics is more favorable than Protagonist Therapeutics.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Protagonist Therapeutics and Amicus Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Protagonist Therapeutics	$434.43 million	5.42	-$78.96 million	$4.20	9.13
Amicus Therapeutics	$528.30 million	5.15	-$151.58 million	($0.18)	-49.22

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

Summary

Protagonist Therapeutics beats Amicus Therapeutics on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. The company has a license and collaboration agreement with Takeda to commercialize rusfertide; and JNJ Innovative Medicines to co-develop Interleukin-23 receptor antagonist compound JNJ-2113. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Newark, California.

About Amicus Therapeutics

Amicus Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on discovering, developing, and delivering medicines for rare diseases. Its commercial product and product candidates include Galafold, an oral precision medicine for the treatment of adults with a confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease and an amenable galactosidase alpha gene variant; and Pombiliti + Opfolda, for the treatment of late onset. It has collaboration and license agreements with the University of Pennsylvania to research and develop parvovirus gene therapy products; and GlaxoSmithKline. Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.