Critical Analysis: AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC)

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RVNC) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

20.4% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of Revance Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of Revance Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Revance Therapeutics has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for AstraZeneca and Revance Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AstraZeneca	0	3	7	2	2.92
Revance Therapeutics	0	8	1	0	2.11

AstraZeneca presently has a consensus price target of $89.75, indicating a potential upside of 33.88%. Revance Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $9.66, indicating a potential upside of 158.90%. Given Revance Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Revance Therapeutics is more favorable than AstraZeneca.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AstraZeneca and Revance Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AstraZeneca	$45.81 billion	4.54	$5.96 billion	$2.09	32.08
Revance Therapeutics	$234.04 million	1.67	-$323.99 million	($1.93)	-1.93

AstraZeneca has higher revenue and earnings than Revance Therapeutics. Revance Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AstraZeneca, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares AstraZeneca and Revance Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AstraZeneca	12.68%	30.01%	11.42%
Revance Therapeutics	-74.67%	N/A	-37.22%

Summary

AstraZeneca beats Revance Therapeutics on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology. Its marketed products also comprise Vaxzevria, Beyfortus, Synagis, FluMist, Soliris, Ultomiris, Strensiq, Koselugo, and Kanuma for covid-19 and rare disease. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; BenevolentAI for drug discovery for systemic lupus erythematosus; and Absci Corporation for AI-driven drug discovery against an oncology target. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

About Revance Therapeutics

Revance Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of neuromodulators for various aesthetic and therapeutic indications in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead drug candidate is DAXXIFY (DaxibotulinumtoxinA-lanm) for injection for the treatment of glabellar lines and cervical dystonia; has completed phase II clinical trials to treat upper facial lines, moderate or severe dynamic forehead lines, and moderate or severe lateral canthal lines; and has completed Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of adult upper limb spasticity and plantar fasciitis. It is also developing OnabotulinumtoxinA, a biosimilar to BOTOX that is in preclinical stage. The company also offers Resilient Hyaluronic Acid (RHA) dermal filler for the correction of moderate to severe dynamic facial wrinkles; and RHA Redensity, a dermal filler for the treatment of moderate to severe dynamic perioral rhytids. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Viatris Inc. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize onabotulinumtoxinA. The company was formerly known as Essentia Biosystems, Inc. and changed its name to Revance Therapeutics, Inc. in April 2005. Revance Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.