Critical Contrast: Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ:PYXS) versus Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) and Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ:PYXS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Akebia Therapeutics and Pyxis Oncology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Akebia Therapeutics	1	1	4	1	2.71
Pyxis Oncology	1	2	4	0	2.43

Akebia Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $6.75, suggesting a potential upside of 138.52%. Pyxis Oncology has a consensus price target of $7.75, suggesting a potential upside of 201.56%. Given Pyxis Oncology’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pyxis Oncology is more favorable than Akebia Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.9% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.1% of Pyxis Oncology shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Akebia Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.6% of Pyxis Oncology shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Akebia Therapeutics has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pyxis Oncology has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Akebia Therapeutics and Pyxis Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Akebia Therapeutics	-17.91%	N/A	-13.47%
Pyxis Oncology	N/A	-68.56%	-52.14%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Akebia Therapeutics and Pyxis Oncology”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Akebia Therapeutics	$160.18 million	4.68	-$69.41 million	($0.17)	-16.65
Pyxis Oncology	$16.15 million	9.87	-$77.33 million	($1.60)	-1.61

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

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.

About Pyxis Oncology

Pyxis Oncology, Inc., a clinical stage company, engages in the development of therapeutics to treat cancers. Its lead antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) product candidate is PYX-201, an investigational novel ADC consisting of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1), which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors; and lead immuno-oncology (IO) product candidate is PYX-106, an investigational fully human IgG1 Siglec-15-targeting antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with advanced solid tumors. The company is also developing PYX-107, a CD40 agonist with demonstrated anti-cancer activity in patients who previously progressed on PD-(L)1 inhibitors, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumors, such as soft tissue sarcomas, esophageal and gastroesophageal junction, cancers, and melanoma in combination with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. It has in-license agreement with Pfizer Inc. to develop and commercialize ADC product candidates directed to certain licensed targets, including PYX-201 and PYX-203, and products containing the ADC product candidates; and Biosion USA, Inc. for development, manufacture, and commercialization of PYX-106, an IO product candidate. Pyxis Oncology, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.