Critical Review: NLS Pharmaceutics (NASDAQ:NCEL) vs. Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

NLS Pharmaceutics (NASDAQ:NCEL) and Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for NLS Pharmaceutics and Akebia Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NLS Pharmaceutics	1	0	0	0	1.00
Akebia Therapeutics	1	1	5	1	2.75

Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 282.17%. Given Akebia Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Akebia Therapeutics is more favorable than NLS Pharmaceutics.

Volatility and Risk

NLS Pharmaceutics has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.31, indicating that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NLS Pharmaceutics and Akebia Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NLS Pharmaceutics	N/A	N/A	-$1.98 million	N/A	N/A
Akebia Therapeutics	$225.07 million	1.85	-$69.41 million	($0.07)	-22.43

NLS Pharmaceutics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Akebia Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares NLS Pharmaceutics and Akebia Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NLS Pharmaceutics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Akebia Therapeutics	-7.07%	-137.67%	-5.13%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of NLS Pharmaceutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Akebia Therapeutics beats NLS Pharmaceutics on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NLS Pharmaceutics

NLS Pharmaceutics AG, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of therapies for patients with rare and complex central nervous system disorders. The company is focusing on the development of treatments for narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, and other rare sleep disorders, as well as neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Its lead product candidates include Quilience to treat excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy; and Nolazol for the treatment of ADHD. The company also developing NLS-4, a selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor to prevent rare sleep disorders; NLS-3, a repurposed reverse ester of methylphenidate for treatment of ADHD; NLS-8, a melatonin ML1A receptor agonist, improved scopolamine-induced amnesia; NLS-11, a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor and muscarinic M1, M2, M3 receptor antagonist; and NLS-12, a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor and muscarinic M4 receptor antagonist. NLS Pharmaceutics AG was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company’s lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients. It offers Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control the serum phosphorus levels in adult patients with DD-CKD on dialysis; and the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with CKD not on dialysis. The company’s product pipeline includes AKB-9090, a drug targeting critical-care indications; and AKB-10108, a drug targeting conditions related to premature birth. It has collaboration agreements with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as research and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for the development and commercialization of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase targeted compounds worldwide. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.