Critical Review: Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) vs. AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU)

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

51.4% of AC Immune shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of AC Immune shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.1% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AC Immune and Assembly Biosciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AC Immune	$16.48 million	16.21	-$60.41 million	($0.46)	-5.87
Assembly Biosciences	$7.16 million	13.21	-$61.23 million	N/A	N/A

AC Immune has higher revenue and earnings than Assembly Biosciences.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AC Immune	N/A	-28.26%	-18.98%
Assembly Biosciences	-144.05%	-121.46%	-34.56%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for AC Immune and Assembly Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AC Immune	0	0	2	0	3.00
Assembly Biosciences	0	1	1	0	2.50

AC Immune presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 344.44%. Assembly Biosciences has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 135.37%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Assembly Biosciences.

Risk & Volatility

AC Immune has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Assembly Biosciences has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AC Immune beats Assembly Biosciences on 11 of the 12 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 Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial. The company also develops ABI-4334, a next-generation capsid assembly modulator, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). In addition, it develops an oral non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor targeting transplant-related herpesviruses; and a small molecule interferon-a receptor agonist targeting HBV and HDV. The company has collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and BeiGene, Ltd. The company was formerly known as Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Assembly Biosciences, Inc. in June 2014. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.