Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS – Get Free Report) and SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE:SQZ – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.
Volatility and Risk
Aligos Therapeutics has a beta of 2.11, indicating that its stock price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SQZ Biotechnologies has a beta of 2.34, indicating that its stock price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Aligos Therapeutics and SQZ Biotechnologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Aligos Therapeutics | -1,283.19% | -114.34% | -64.58% |
| SQZ Biotechnologies | -369.96% | -119.83% | -59.90% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Aligos Therapeutics | $6.00 million | 15.26 | -$87.68 million | ($13.32) | -1.92 |
| SQZ Biotechnologies | $18.16 million | 0.71 | -$79.46 million | ($2.61) | -0.17 |
SQZ Biotechnologies has higher revenue and earnings than Aligos Therapeutics. Aligos Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SQZ Biotechnologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
60.4% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.5% of SQZ Biotechnologies shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.0% of SQZ Biotechnologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Aligos Therapeutics and SQZ Biotechnologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Aligos Therapeutics | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| SQZ Biotechnologies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Aligos Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 194.00%. Given Aligos Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Aligos Therapeutics is more favorable than SQZ Biotechnologies.
Summary
SQZ Biotechnologies beats Aligos Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Aligos Therapeutics
Aligos Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs in viral and liver diseases. Its drug candidate, ALG-055009, a small molecule THR-ß agonist that is in the Phase 2a clinical trial for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The company also develops ALG-000184, a capsid assembly modulator, which is completed Phase 1b clinical trial to treat chronic hepatitis B (CHB); and ALG-125755, a siRNA drug candidate, which is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of CHB. In addition, it develops ALG-097558, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of coronavirus. The company has entered into license and research collaboration agreement with Merck to discover, research, optimize, and develop oligonucleotides directed against a NASH; license agreement with Emory University to provide hepatitis B virus capsid assembly modulator technology; license agreement with Luxna Biotech Co., Ltd. to develop and commercialize products containing oligonucleotides targeting hepatitis B virus genome; and research, licensing, and commercialization agreement with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to develop coronavirus protease inhibitors. Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.
About SQZ Biotechnologies
SQZ Biotechnologies Company, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, autoimmune, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions. Its lead product candidate is SQZ-PBMC-HPV, from its SQZ Antigen Presenting Cells platform, which is in a Phase I clinical trial as a monotherapy and in combination with immuno-oncology agents for the treatment of HPV16+ advanced or metastatic solid tumors, including cervical, head-and-neck, anal, penile, vulvar, and vaginal cancer. The company also develops SQZ-AAC-HPV, which is in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of HPV16+ advanced or metastatic solid tumors in monotherapy and in combinations with immune-oncology agents. Its additional platforms in development are SQZ Activating Antigen Carriers; and SQZ Tolerizing Antigen Carriers. The Company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.
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