Critical Review: Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS) and Syndax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SNDX)

Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS) and Syndax Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SNDX) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aligos Therapeutics	$2.19 million	14.87	-$24.19 million	($7.30)	-0.72
Syndax Pharmaceuticals	$172.35 million	9.35	-$285.42 million	($2.51)	-7.24

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

Volatility & Risk

Aligos Therapeutics has a beta of 2.34, indicating that its share price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Syndax Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Aligos Therapeutics and Syndax Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aligos Therapeutics	1	0	5	1	2.86
Syndax Pharmaceuticals	1	0	10	0	2.82

Aligos Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $38.50, suggesting a potential upside of 637.55%. Syndax Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $42.30, suggesting a potential upside of 132.67%. Given Aligos Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Aligos Therapeutics is more favorable than Syndax Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Aligos Therapeutics and Syndax Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aligos Therapeutics	-241.01%	-160.72%	-92.30%
Syndax Pharmaceuticals	-87.52%	-372.94%	-39.11%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

60.4% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 7.8% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.8% of Syndax Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Aligos Therapeutics beats Syndax Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aligos Therapeutics

Aligos Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs in viral and liver diseases. Its drug candidate, ALG-055009, a small molecule THR-ß agonist that is in the Phase 2a clinical trial for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The company also develops ALG-000184, a capsid assembly modulator, which is completed Phase 1b clinical trial to treat chronic hepatitis B (CHB); and ALG-125755, a siRNA drug candidate, which is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of CHB. In addition, it develops ALG-097558, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of coronavirus. The company has entered into license and research collaboration agreement with Merck to discover, research, optimize, and develop oligonucleotides directed against a NASH; license agreement with Emory University to provide hepatitis B virus capsid assembly modulator technology; license agreement with Luxna Biotech Co., Ltd. to develop and commercialize products containing oligonucleotides targeting hepatitis B virus genome; and research, licensing, and commercialization agreement with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to develop coronavirus protease inhibitors. Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Syndax Pharmaceuticals

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its lead product candidates are revumenib, a potent, selective, small molecule inhibitor of the menin-MLL binding interaction for the treatment of KMT2A rearranged, acute leukemias, and solid tumor; and SNDX-6352 or axatilimab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks the colony stimulating factor 1, or CSF-1 receptor for the treatment of patients with chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The company is also developing Entinostat. It has an agreement with Eddingpharm International Company Limited for licensing, development, and commercialization of Entinostat. Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.