Head to Head Analysis: AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) (NASDAQ:CALT)

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

Volatility and Risk

AC Immune has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.4% of AC Immune shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of AC Immune shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares AC Immune and Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AC Immune	N/A	-43.72%	-33.24%
Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)	-30.18%	-212.04%	-27.96%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for AC Immune and Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ), as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AC Immune	0	0	2	0	3.00
Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)	0	5	0	0	2.00

AC Immune presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 259.28%. Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) has a consensus target price of $39.25, indicating a potential downside of 1.88%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ).

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AC Immune and Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AC Immune	$15.49 million	21.33	-$60.41 million	($0.69)	-4.84
Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)	$1.60 billion	0.74	-$43.96 million	($1.85)	-21.62

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

Summary

AC Immune beats Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) on 10 of the 14 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 Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ)

Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ), a commercial-stage bio-pharmaceutical company, focused on identifying, developing, and commercializing novel treatments in orphan indications with an initial focus on renal and hepatic diseases with significant unmet medical needs in the United States, Europe, and Asia. It offers Nefecon (TARPEYO/Kinpeygo), an oral formulation of budesonide to reduce the loss of kidney function in adults with immunoglobulin A nephropathy. The company's lead compound is Setanaxib, a NOX inhibitor that is in Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis; and in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, as well as for solid tumors and Alport Syndrome. Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.