Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) vs. Adagene (NASDAQ:ADAG) Critical Contrast

Adagene (NASDAQ:ADAG) and Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Adagene and Liquidia, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Adagene	0	0	1	0	3.00
Liquidia	1	1	5	1	2.75

Adagene currently has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 93.05%. Liquidia has a consensus target price of $23.14, indicating a potential upside of 141.07%. Given Liquidia’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Liquidia is more favorable than Adagene.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

9.5% of Adagene shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.5% of Liquidia shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.2% of Adagene shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 31.6% of Liquidia shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Adagene and Liquidia’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Adagene	$815,746.00	140.20	-$18.95 million	N/A	N/A
Liquidia	$14.84 million	49.43	-$78.50 million	($1.56)	-6.15

Adagene has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Liquidia.

Volatility & Risk

Adagene has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liquidia has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Adagene and Liquidia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Adagene	N/A	N/A	N/A
Liquidia	-674.42%	-177.83%	-78.50%

Summary

Adagene beats Liquidia on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Adagene

Adagene Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, engages in the research, development, and production of monoclonal antibody drugs for cancers. The company's product candidates include ADG106, a human ligand-blocking agonistic anti- CD137 IgG4 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trials for the treatment advanced solid tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; ADG126, a masked fully-human anti-CTLA-4 mAb that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment advanced/metastatic solid tumors; and ADG116, a human ligand-blocking anti-CTLA-4 mAb, which is in Phase 1b/2 clinical development for the treatment of advanced/metastatic solid tumors. It also offers ADG104, an anti-PD-L1 mAb that is in Phase 2 clinical development; ADG125, a novel anti-CSF-1R mAb, which is in Phase I clinical trial; ADG206, a masked, Fc engineered anti-CD137 agonistic POWERbody; ADG153, a masked anti-CD47 IgG1 SAFEbody, which is in preclinical for the treatment hematologic and solid tumors; ADG138, novel HER2xCD3 POWERbody, which is in preclinical for the treatment HER2-expressing solid tumors; and ADG152, a v POWERbody, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment off-tumor toxicities, as well as develops anti-CD28 bispecific POWERbody TCEs. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Suzhou, China.

About Liquidia

Liquidia Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes various products for unmet patient needs in the United States. Its lead product candidates include YUTREPIA, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD). The company also offers Remodulin, a treprostinil administered through continuous intravenous and subcutaneous infusion. The company also a license agreement with Pharmosa Biopharm Inc to develop and commercialize L606, an inhaled sustained-release formulation of Treprostinil for the treatment of PAH and PH-ILD. Liquidia Corporation was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.