Analyzing AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) and Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

19.9% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.4% of AC Immune shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.1% of Assembly Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of AC Immune shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Assembly Biosciences	$28.33 million	3.25	-$61.23 million	N/A	N/A
AC Immune	$16.48 million	16.09	-$60.41 million	($0.46)	-5.83

AC Immune has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Assembly Biosciences.

Profitability

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

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Assembly Biosciences and AC Immune, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Assembly Biosciences presently has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 141.55%. AC Immune has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 347.76%. Given AC Immune’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AC Immune is more favorable than Assembly Biosciences.

Summary

AC Immune beats Assembly Biosciences on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.