Comparing Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS) & SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE:SQZ)

Aligos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ALGS) and SQZ Biotechnologies (NYSE:SQZ) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Aligos Therapeutics and SQZ Biotechnologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aligos Therapeutics	-1,283.19%	-114.34%	-64.58%
SQZ Biotechnologies	-369.96%	-119.83%	-59.90%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Aligos Therapeutics and SQZ Biotechnologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aligos Therapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00
SQZ Biotechnologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Aligos Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $75.00, suggesting a potential upside of 180.37%. Given Aligos Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Aligos Therapeutics is more favorable than SQZ Biotechnologies.

Volatility & Risk

Aligos Therapeutics has a beta of 2.73, indicating that its stock price is 173% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SQZ Biotechnologies has a beta of 2.34, indicating that its stock price is 134% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

60.4% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.5% of SQZ Biotechnologies shares are held by institutional investors. 8.8% of Aligos Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.0% of SQZ Biotechnologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aligos Therapeutics and SQZ Biotechnologies”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aligos Therapeutics	$15.53 million	6.18	-$87.68 million	($13.32)	-2.01
SQZ Biotechnologies	$18.16 million	0.04	-$79.46 million	($2.61)	-0.01

SQZ Biotechnologies has higher revenue and earnings than Aligos Therapeutics. Aligos Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SQZ Biotechnologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of 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 SQZ Biotechnologies

SQZ Biotechnologies Company, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, autoimmune, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions. Its lead product candidate is SQZ-PBMC-HPV, from its SQZ Antigen Presenting Cells platform, which is in a Phase I clinical trial as a monotherapy and in combination with immuno-oncology agents for the treatment of HPV16+ advanced or metastatic solid tumors, including cervical, head-and-neck, anal, penile, vulvar, and vaginal cancer. The company also develops SQZ-AAC-HPV, which is in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of HPV16+ advanced or metastatic solid tumors in monotherapy and in combinations with immune-oncology agents. Its additional platforms in development are SQZ Activating Antigen Carriers; and SQZ Tolerizing Antigen Carriers. The Company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.