Critical Contrast: Monopar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MNPR) versus Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Monopar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MNPR) and Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Monopar Therapeutics and Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Monopar Therapeutics	N/A	-25.72%	-24.81%
Apellis Pharmaceuticals	4.43%	18.94%	5.04%

Risk and Volatility

Monopar Therapeutics has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.8% of Monopar Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 20.5% of Monopar Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Monopar Therapeutics and Apellis Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Monopar Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$15.59 million	($3.44)	-16.12
Apellis Pharmaceuticals	$781.37 million	3.51	-$197.88 million	$0.31	70.00

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Monopar Therapeutics and Apellis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Monopar Therapeutics	1	0	10	2	3.00
Apellis Pharmaceuticals	2	7	12	0	2.48

Monopar Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $107.00, suggesting a potential upside of 92.93%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 52.07%. Given Monopar Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Monopar Therapeutics is more favorable than Apellis Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Apellis Pharmaceuticals beats Monopar Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Monopar Therapeutics

Monopar Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer in the United States. Its lead product candidate in development is Validive, a clonidine hydrochloride mucobuccal tablet that is in Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for the prevention of chemoradiotherapy induced severe oral mucositis in patients with oropharyngeal cancer. The company also engages in developing Camsirubicin, an analog of doxorubicin, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma; MNPR-101, a urokinase plasminogen activator receptor targeted antibody for the treatment of various cancers; MNPR-101 RIT, a radioimmunotherapeutic based on MNPR-101 for the potential treatment of cancer and severe COVID-19; and MNPR-202, an analog of camsirubicin to treat doxorubicin-and camsirubicin-resistant cancers. Monopar Therapeutics Inc. has collaborations with the Grupo Español de Investigación en Sarcomas for the development of camsirubicin in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma; NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC to develop radio-immuno-therapeutics targeting severe COVID-19; and the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore to evaluate the activity of MNPR-202 and related analogs in various types of cancer. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Wilmette, Illinois.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA). The company also develops APL-3007, a small interfering RNA, or siRNA, which is in a Phase 1 clinical trial, as well as an oral complement inhibitor that is in preclinical development. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) for development and commercialization of pegcetacoplan; and a collaboration with Beam Therapeutics Inc. focused on the use of Beam’s base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement-driven diseases. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.