Head to Head Contrast: Aquestive Therapeutics (AQST) & The Competition

Aquestive Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AQST) is one of 897 public companies in the “Pharmaceuticals” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Aquestive Therapeutics to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Aquestive Therapeutics and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aquestive Therapeutics	-144.63%	N/A	-52.40%
Aquestive Therapeutics Competitors	-2,378.17%	-221.77%	-16.01%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Aquestive Therapeutics and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aquestive Therapeutics	1	0	4	0	2.60
Aquestive Therapeutics Competitors	7742	13824	25658	1029	2.41

Aquestive Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $8.60, indicating a potential upside of 111.30%. As a group, “Pharmaceuticals” companies have a potential upside of 30.70%. Given Aquestive Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aquestive Therapeutics is more favorable than its rivals.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aquestive Therapeutics and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aquestive Therapeutics	$54.09 million	-$83.78 million	-6.26
Aquestive Therapeutics Competitors	$17.16 billion	$3.19 billion	550.30

Aquestive Therapeutics’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Aquestive Therapeutics. Aquestive Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

32.5% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.5% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of Aquestive Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.1% of shares of all “Pharmaceuticals” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Aquestive Therapeutics has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aquestive Therapeutics’ rivals have a beta of -4.80, indicating that their average stock price is 580% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Aquestive Therapeutics rivals beat Aquestive Therapeutics on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Aquestive Therapeutics Company Profile

Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a pharmaceutical company in the United States and internationally. The company markets Sympazan, an oral soluble film formulation of clobazam for the treatment of lennox-gastaut syndrome; Suboxone, a sublingual film formulation of buprenorphine and naloxone for the treatment of opioid dependence; Zuplenz, an oral soluble film formulation of ondansetron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy and post-operative recovery; and Azstarys, a once-daily product for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its proprietary product candidates comprise Libervant, a buccal soluble film formulation of diazepam for the treatment of seizures; KYNMOBI, a sublingual film formulation of apomorphine for the treatment of episodic off-periods in Parkinson's disease; and Exservan, an oral soluble film formulation of riluzole for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The company's proprietary pipeline of complex molecule product includes AQST-108, a sublingual film formulation delivering systemic epinephrine for the treatment of conditions other than anaphylaxis; and Anaphylm, an epinephrine sublingual film for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. In addition, it develops Adrenaverse, an epinephrine prodrug platform. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Warren, New Jersey.