Reviewing Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) and Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) and Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vaxcyte and Aptose Biosciences”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vaxcyte	N/A	N/A	-$402.27 million	($3.80)	-19.80
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$51.21 million	($89.19)	-0.04

Vaxcyte is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aptose Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.8% of Vaxcyte shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of Aptose Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Vaxcyte shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Aptose Biosciences shares are held by company 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 Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Vaxcyte and Aptose Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxcyte	0	0	9	0	3.00
Aptose Biosciences	0	0	3	1	3.25

Vaxcyte currently has a consensus price target of $147.50, suggesting a potential upside of 96.07%. Aptose Biosciences has a consensus price target of $130.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3,330.08%. Given Aptose Biosciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Aptose Biosciences is more favorable than Vaxcyte.

Risk and Volatility

Vaxcyte has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aptose Biosciences has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vaxcyte and Aptose Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxcyte	N/A	-23.53%	-22.20%
Aptose Biosciences	N/A	-5,683.22%	-300.44%

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness. The company was formerly known as SutroVax, Inc. and changed its name to Vaxcyte, Inc. in May 2020. Vaxcyte, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.

About Aptose Biosciences

Aptose Biosciences Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops personalized therapies addressing unmet medical needs in oncology in Canada. Its lead clinical program is APTO-253, which is a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies. The company has an agreement with CrystalGenomics, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize CG026806, a non-covalent small molecule therapeutic agent, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/mantle cell lymphoma. The company was formerly known as Lorus Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Aptose Biosciences Inc. in August 2014. Aptose Biosciences Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.