Reviewing PMV Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PMVP) & Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM)

PMV Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PMVP) and Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

PMV Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Axsome Therapeutics has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares PMV Pharmaceuticals and Axsome Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PMV Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$68.96 million	($0.97)	-1.79
Axsome Therapeutics	$291.49 million	14.68	-$239.24 million	($6.51)	-13.84

PMV Pharmaceuticals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Axsome Therapeutics. Axsome Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PMV Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for PMV Pharmaceuticals and Axsome Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PMV Pharmaceuticals	0	0	5	1	3.17
Axsome Therapeutics	0	0	14	0	3.00

PMV Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $5.80, suggesting a potential upside of 233.33%. Axsome Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $124.64, suggesting a potential upside of 38.38%. Given PMV Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe PMV Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Axsome Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares PMV Pharmaceuticals and Axsome Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PMV Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-21.96%	-19.80%
Axsome Therapeutics	-105.85%	-117.46%	-36.39%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.2% of PMV Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.5% of Axsome Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of PMV Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.4% of Axsome Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PMV Pharmaceuticals beats Axsome Therapeutics on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PMV Pharmaceuticals

PMV Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a precision oncology company, engages in the discovery and development of small molecule and tumor-agnostic therapies for p53 mutations in cancer. It's lead product candidate is PC14586, a small molecule that corrects mutant p53 protein containing the Y220C mutation and restores wild-type p53 function. The company was formerly known as PJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to PMV Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in July 2013. PMV Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

About Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders in the United States. The company’s commercial product portfolio includes Auvelity (dextromethorphan-bupropion), a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist with multimodal activity indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder; and Sunosi (solriamfetol), a medication indicated to the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea. It is also developing AXS-05, which is in Phase III clinical trial to treat Alzheimer’s disease agitation, as well as that has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of smoking cessation; AXS-07, an investigational medicine that has completed Phase III trials for the acute treatment of migraine; AXS-12, an investigational medicine, which is in Phase III trial to treat narcolepsy; AXS-14, a selective and potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that has completed Phase III trial for the treatment of fibromyalgia and other conditions; and solriamfetol, a dual-acting dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, which has completed a Phase 2 trial for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and is in phase 2 major depressive, binge eating, and shift work disorder. Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. has a research collaboration agreement with Duke University for evaluating AXS-05 in smoking cessation. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in New York, New York.