Contrasting Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) & Ascentage Pharma Group International (NASDAQ:AAPG)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) and Ascentage Pharma Group International (NASDAQ:AAPG) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Vaxcyte and Ascentage Pharma Group International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxcyte	N/A	-21.08%	-19.67%
Ascentage Pharma Group International	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.8% of Vaxcyte shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Vaxcyte shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vaxcyte and Ascentage Pharma Group International”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vaxcyte	N/A	N/A	-$463.93 million	($4.84)	-9.56
Ascentage Pharma Group International	$134.35 million	22.22	-$55.54 million	N/A	N/A

Ascentage Pharma Group International has higher revenue and earnings than Vaxcyte.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Vaxcyte and Ascentage Pharma Group International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxcyte	1	1	7	1	2.80
Ascentage Pharma Group International	0	0	5	0	3.00

Vaxcyte presently has a consensus target price of $97.83, suggesting a potential upside of 111.47%. Ascentage Pharma Group International has a consensus target price of $48.50, suggesting a potential upside of 51.61%. Given Vaxcyte’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Vaxcyte is more favorable than Ascentage Pharma Group International.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness. The company was formerly known as SutroVax, Inc. and changed its name to Vaxcyte, Inc. in May 2020. Vaxcyte, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.

About Ascentage Pharma Group International

Ascentage Pharma Group International Co., Ltd. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. It engages in the development of novel therapies for cancers, hepatitis B virus, or HBV, and age-related diseases. The company was founded by Da Jun Yang, Wang Shao Meng and Ming Guo in May 2009 and is headquartered in Suzhou, China.