Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) and Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) Head to Head Review

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Altimmune	-199,076.92%	-55.81%	-50.60%
Aquestive Therapeutics	-59.75%	N/A	-33.96%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Altimmune and Aquestive Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Altimmune	$52,000.00	11,872.40	-$88.45 million	($1.55)	-5.60
Aquestive Therapeutics	$58.90 million	7.06	-$7.87 million	($0.45)	-10.13

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 & Institutional Ownership

78.1% of Altimmune shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.1% of Altimmune shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Altimmune and Aquestive Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Altimmune	0	2	5	1	2.88
Aquestive Therapeutics	0	0	5	1	3.17

Altimmune presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 130.41%. Aquestive Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $9.80, indicating a potential upside of 114.91%. Given Altimmune’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Altimmune is more favorable than Aquestive Therapeutics.

Volatility & Risk

Altimmune has a beta of 0.09, suggesting that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aquestive Therapeutics has a beta of 2.82, suggesting that its stock price is 182% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Aquestive Therapeutics beats Altimmune on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.