Reviewing AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Pharvaris (NASDAQ:PHVS)

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Pharvaris (NASDAQ:PHVS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

51.4% of AC Immune shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of AC Immune shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AC Immune and Pharvaris’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AC Immune	N/A	-38.44%	-33.76%
Pharvaris	N/A	-39.67%	-37.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for AC Immune and Pharvaris, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AC Immune	0	0	2	0	3.00
Pharvaris	1	0	3	0	2.50

AC Immune presently has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 202.27%. Pharvaris has a consensus price target of $31.50, suggesting a potential upside of 68.00%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Pharvaris.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AC Immune and Pharvaris’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AC Immune	$16.48 million	24.00	-$60.41 million	($0.69)	-5.80
Pharvaris	N/A	N/A	-$109.18 million	($2.68)	-7.06

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

Risk and Volatility

AC Immune has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pharvaris has a beta of -3.1, meaning that its stock price is 410% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AC Immune beats Pharvaris on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AC Immune

AC Immune SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, designs, and develops medicines and diagnostic products for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding. Its SupraAntigen and Morphomer platforms are designed to generate vaccines, antibodies, and small molecules, which selectively interact with misfolded proteins that are common in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. The company is developing Crenezumab, a humanized, conformation-specific monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase II clinical studies trial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is also developing ACI-24, an anti-Abeta vaccine candidate that is in Phase II clinical study for AD, as well as completed Phase Ib clinical study for Down syndrome; ACI-35, an anti-Tau vaccine candidate that is in Phase Ib/2a clinical study; and Tau- positron emission tomography (PET) imaging tracer, which is in Phase II clinical study. In addition, the company is researching and developing small molecule Tau aggregation inhibitors for AD and NeuroOrphan indications. Further, it has discovery and preclinical stage molecules targeting range of neurodegenerative diseases, which include diagnostics targeting TDP-43, alpha-synuclein, and NLRP3. AC Immune SA has license agreements and collaborations with Genentech, Inc.; Biogen International GmbH; Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Life Molecular Imaging SA; Eli Lilly and Company; and WuXi Biologics. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

About Pharvaris

Pharvaris N.V., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for rare diseases. The company develops PHA121, a small molecule bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). It also develops PHVS416, an on-demand, rapid exposure soft capsule for patients suffering from acute HAE attacks which is under Phase 2 clinical trial; and PHVS719, a prophylactic extended-release tablet for HAE patients which is under Phase 1 clinical trial. The company operates in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Pharvaris N.V. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Leiden, the Netherlands.