Compass Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CMPX – Get Free Report) and HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB – Get Free Report) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Compass Therapeutics and HCW Biologics, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Compass Therapeutics | 1 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 2.76 |
| HCW Biologics | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Compass Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $10.21, suggesting a potential upside of 1,092.28%. HCW Biologics has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,685.71%. Given HCW Biologics’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe HCW Biologics is more favorable than Compass Therapeutics.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Compass Therapeutics | N/A | -38.71% | -34.72% |
| HCW Biologics | -83.03% | -262.33% | -34.90% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
68.4% of Compass Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of HCW Biologics shares are held by institutional investors. 18.7% of Compass Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of HCW Biologics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
Compass Therapeutics has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCW Biologics has a beta of 2.41, suggesting that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Compass Therapeutics and HCW Biologics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Compass Therapeutics | $850,000.00 | 181.51 | -$66.49 million | ($0.40) | -2.14 |
| HCW Biologics | $50,000.00 | 61.82 | -$7.96 million | ($27.60) | -0.06 |
HCW Biologics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Compass Therapeutics. Compass Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCW Biologics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Compass Therapeutics beats HCW Biologics on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Compass Therapeutics
Compass Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing antibody-based therapeutics to treat various human diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidates include CTX-009, a bispecific antibody that blocks Delta-like ligand 4 a ligand of Notch-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor A signaling pathways, which are critical to angiogenesis and tumor vascularization; and CTX-471, an IgG4 monoclonal antibody that is an agonist of CD137, a key co-stimulatory receptor on immune cells. It also develops CTX-8371, a bispecific inhibitor that targets PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor antibodies. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
About HCW Biologics
HCW Biologics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing novel immunotherapies for chronic, low-grade inflammation, and age-related diseases in the United States. The company's lead products include HCW9218, which is in Phase 1 clinical chemo-refractory/chemo-resistant solid tumors with pancreatic, ovarian, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, as well as Phase 2 clinical trial with metastatic advanced stage ovarian cancer patients; and HCW9302 for autoimmune and proinflammatory diseases, such as alopecia areata diseases. It also develops HCW9201, a cell-based therapy that is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia; and HCW9206, an injectable immunotherapeutic to use as adjuvant for adoptive cell therapy in cancer treatment. HCW Biologics Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.
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