Analyzing Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT) and Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) and Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.3% of Applied Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.3% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Applied Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Akebia Therapeutics and Applied Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Akebia Therapeutics	-22.60%	-156.59%	-11.53%
Applied Therapeutics	N/A	-340.84%	-175.00%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Akebia Therapeutics and Applied Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Akebia Therapeutics	1	2	4	0	2.43
Applied Therapeutics	1	2	0	0	1.67

Akebia Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $3.90, indicating a potential upside of 579.80%. Applied Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $1.00, indicating a potential upside of 870.87%. Given Applied Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Therapeutics is more favorable than Akebia Therapeutics.

Risk and Volatility

Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Therapeutics has a beta of 2.08, indicating that its share price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Akebia Therapeutics	$236.20 million	0.67	-$5.34 million	($0.16)	-3.59
Applied Therapeutics	$1.00 million	15.86	-$105.62 million	($0.10)	-1.03

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

Summary

Akebia Therapeutics beats Applied Therapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with kidney disease and related conditions. The company’s primary areas of interest include anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), iron deficiency, and disorders involving mineral metabolism. Akebia’s key product is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to stimulate the body’s natural production of erythropoietin and support red blood cell formation.

About Applied Therapeutics

Applied Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for rare metabolic diseases. The company uses its expertise in small-molecule drug development to target disorders in which abnormal carbohydrate metabolism contributes to neurological and other systemic complications. Its leading investigational product is govorestat, also known as AT-007, an aldose reductase inhibitor being developed for conditions including classic galactosemia and sorbitol dehydrogenase deficiency (SORD) neuropathy.