Head-To-Head Review: AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL) vs. Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)

AbCellera Biologics (NASDAQ:ABCL) and Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) are both mid-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

AbCellera Biologics has a beta of 1.41, meaning that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Protagonist Therapeutics has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for AbCellera Biologics and Protagonist Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AbCellera Biologics	1	2	5	1	2.67
Protagonist Therapeutics	0	2	16	0	2.89

AbCellera Biologics presently has a consensus price target of $13.38, indicating a potential upside of 11.58%. Protagonist Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $147.13, indicating a potential upside of 4.27%. Given AbCellera Biologics’ higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe AbCellera Biologics is more favorable than Protagonist Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.4% of AbCellera Biologics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.6% of Protagonist Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.4% of AbCellera Biologics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Protagonist Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AbCellera Biologics and Protagonist Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AbCellera Biologics	$75.13 million	48.92	-$146.41 million	($0.54)	-22.20
Protagonist Therapeutics	$46.02 million	198.41	-$130.15 million	$1.03	137.00

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

Profitability

This table compares AbCellera Biologics and Protagonist Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AbCellera Biologics	-248.83%	-17.49%	-12.36%
Protagonist Therapeutics	29.40%	12.03%	11.23%

Summary

Protagonist Therapeutics beats AbCellera Biologics on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AbCellera Biologics

AbCellera Biologics Inc. builds an engine for antibody drug discovery and development. Its engine discovers antibodies from natural immune responses, which are pre-enriched for antibodies. The company’s preclinical products are ABCL635 for metabolic and endocrine conditions; and ABCL575 for atopic dermatitis. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company; a research collaboration with Confo Therapeutics for the discovery of therapeutic antibody candidates targeting two undisclosed GPCR targets; and strategic collaboration with Biogen Inc. to discover therapeutic antibodies for neurological conditions, as well as collaboration with Viking Global Investors and ArrowMark Partners. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Protagonist Therapeutics

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. The company has a license and collaboration agreement with Takeda to commercialize rusfertide; and JNJ Innovative Medicines to co-develop Interleukin-23 receptor antagonist compound JNJ-2113. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Newark, California.