Head to Head Comparison: Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) versus Vivos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VVOS)

Vivos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VVOS) and Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) 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, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Vivos Therapeutics and Akebia Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vivos Therapeutics	1	2	2	0	2.20
Akebia Therapeutics	1	1	4	1	2.71

Vivos Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $4.92, suggesting a potential upside of 177.78%. Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 341.18%. Given Akebia Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Akebia Therapeutics is more favorable than Vivos Therapeutics.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

26.4% of Vivos Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Vivos Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Akebia Therapeutics 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.

Volatility & Risk

Vivos Therapeutics has a beta of 6.89, suggesting that its stock price is 589% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vivos Therapeutics and Akebia Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vivos Therapeutics	-98.77%	-351.28%	-87.44%
Akebia Therapeutics	-7.07%	-137.67%	-5.13%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vivos Therapeutics and Akebia Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vivos Therapeutics	$17.32 million	0.96	-$11.14 million	($1.77)	-1.00
Akebia Therapeutics	$160.18 million	2.25	-$69.41 million	($0.07)	-19.43

Vivos Therapeutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Akebia Therapeutics. Akebia Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vivos Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Akebia Therapeutics beats Vivos Therapeutics on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vivos Therapeutics

Vivos Therapeutics, Inc., a medical technology company, develops and commercializes treatment modalities for patients with dentofacial abnormalities, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and snoring in adults. It offers The Vivos Method, a non-invasive, non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical, multi-disciplinary treatment modality for the treatment of dentofacial abnormalities, OSA, and snoring. The company also offers VivoScore Program, a screening and home sleep test in adults and children. It markets and sells its appliances, and related treatments and services to licensed professionals, primarily general dentists in the United States and Canada. Vivos Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2016 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company’s lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients. It offers Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control the serum phosphorus levels in adult patients with DD-CKD on dialysis; and the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with CKD not on dialysis. The company’s product pipeline includes AKB-9090, a drug targeting critical-care indications; and AKB-10108, a drug targeting conditions related to premature birth. It has collaboration agreements with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as research and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for the development and commercialization of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase targeted compounds worldwide. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.