Head to Head Comparison: Acurx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACXP) & Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ:FBIO)

Acurx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACXP) and Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ:FBIO) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Acurx Pharmaceuticals and Fortress Biotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acurx Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-124.73%	-87.48%
Fortress Biotech	163.32%	83.47%	42.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Acurx Pharmaceuticals and Fortress Biotech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acurx Pharmaceuticals	1	0	1	0	2.00
Fortress Biotech	1	1	2	0	2.25

Acurx Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 2,083.10%. Fortress Biotech has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 537.90%. Given Acurx Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Acurx Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Fortress Biotech.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Acurx Pharmaceuticals and Fortress Biotech”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acurx Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$7.97 million	($2.69)	-0.53
Fortress Biotech	$63.26 million	1.40	$6.82 million	$2.64	1.01

Fortress Biotech has higher revenue and earnings than Acurx Pharmaceuticals. Acurx Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fortress Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

11.5% of Acurx Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.5% of Fortress Biotech shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.3% of Acurx Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 28.5% of Fortress Biotech shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Acurx Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -2.02, meaning that its stock price is 302% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fortress Biotech has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fortress Biotech beats Acurx Pharmaceuticals on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acurx Pharmaceuticals

Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. The company's lead antibiotic candidate is ibezapolstat, a novel mechanism of action that targets the polymerase IIIC enzyme that is in Phase 2b clinical trial to treat patients with clostridium difficile infections. It also develops ACX-375C, a potential oral and parenteral treatment targeting gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, and penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumonia. Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Staten Island, New York.

About Fortress Biotech

Fortress Biotech, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops dermatology, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology products in the United States. The company markets dermatology products, such as Qbrexza a medicated cloth towelette for the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis; Accutane capsules for severe recalcitrant nodular acne; Amzeeq for severe acne vulgaris; Zilxi, a topical foam; Exelderm cream and solution for topical use; Targadox an oral doxycycline drug for adjunctive therapy for severe acne; Luxamend; sulconazole nitrate cream and solution for tinea cruris and tinea corporis; and doxycycline hyclate tablet. It also develops late stage product candidates, such as intravenous Tramadol for the treatment of post-operative acute pain; CUTX-101, an injection for the treatment of Menkes disease; Cosibelimab for metastatic cancers; Olafertinib for the treatment of patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC; CAEL-101 for the treatment of amyloid light chain amyloidosis; Triplex vaccine for cytomegalovirus; and DFD-29 for the treatment of rosacea. The company’s early stage product candidates include Dotinurad for gout; MB-106 for B-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma; MB-101 for glioblastoma; MB-108 for recurrent GBM; MB-109 for refractory glioblastoma; AJ201, an androgen receptor degradation enhancer; BAER-101, a positive allosteric modulator; MB-117 for newly diagnosed x-linked severe combined immunodeficiency; and MB217 for previously transplanted; and MB-110 for RAG1 severe combined immunodeficiency. Its preclinical product candidates comprise Mayo Clinic In Vivo CAR T Platform Technology; AAV-ATP7A gene therapy; AVTS-001 gene therapy; CK-103 BET inhibitor; CEVA-D and CEVA-102; CK-302, an anti-GITR; CK-303, an anti-CAIX; and oligonucleotide platform. The company was formerly known as Coronado Biosciences, Inc. and changed its name to Fortress Biotech, Inc. in April 2015. Fortress Biotech, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida.