Athenex (NASDAQ:ATNX – Get Rating) and Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS – Get Rating) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Athenex and Apellis Pharmaceuticals' revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Get Athenex alerts:

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

Risk and Volatility

Athenex has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

29.4% of Athenex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.2% of Athenex shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Athenex and Apellis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

Athenex presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,637.12%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $73.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.50%. Given Athenex's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Athenex is more favorable than Apellis Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Athenex and Apellis Pharmaceuticals' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

About Athenex

(Get Rating)

Athenex, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer. It operates through three segments: Oncology Innovation Platform, Global Supply Chain Platform, and Commercial Platform. The company's Orascovery product candidates include Oral paclitaxel and encequidar, an oral dosage form, which is in Phase III trial for metastatic breast cancer, as well as various clinical studies in cutaneous angiosarcoma, advanced gastric cancer, and advanced solid malignancies. It also offers Src Kinase product candidates comprising Tirbanibulin ointments for actinic keratosis, skin cancers, and psoriasis. In addition, the company is developing KUR-501, an autologous product that is in a phase I clinical trial for treating children with relapsed-refractory (R/R) high risk neuroblastoma; KUR-502, an allogeneic product, which is in a phase I clinical trial for treating adults with R/R CD19 positive malignancies, including B cell lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and KUR-503, an allogeneic product that is in preclinical development for advanced hepatocellular carcinomas, as well as TCRT-ESO-A2, an autologous T cell receptor (TCR)-T cell therapy that is in phase 1 clinical trial for solid tumors. Further, it is developing dual absorption enhancers to inhibit the P-gp transporter and the cytochrome p450 3A enzymes within the gastrointestinal tract; and has a portfolio of TCRs that recognize hotspot mutations in p53, KRAS, and EGFR genes for multiple tumors. The company was formerly known as Kinex Pharmaceuticals LLC and changed its name to Athenex, Inc. in August 2015. Athenex, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

(Get Rating)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company's lead product candidate is pegcetacoplan that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) diseases. It also develops EMPAVELI (systemic pegcetacoplan) for the treatment of cold agglutinin disease (CAD), and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA) in hematology; C3 glomerulopathy (C3G), and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (IC-MPGN) in nephrology; and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in neurology. In addition, the company develops APL-2006, a bispecific C3 and VEGF inhibitor for treating complement-mediated disorders; APL-1030, a C3 inhibitor for the treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases; and the combination of EMPAVELI and a small interfering RNA, or siRNA for reducing the production of C3 proteins by the liver. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) to co-develop pegcetacoplan; and a research collaboration with Beam Therapeutics Inc. focused on the use of Beam's base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement-driven diseases. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Receive News & Ratings for Athenex Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Athenex and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.