Head-To-Head Contrast: PaxMedica (NASDAQ:PXMD) & AEON Biopharma (NASDAQ:AEON)

PaxMedica (NASDAQ:PXMD) and AEON Biopharma (NASDAQ:AEON) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares PaxMedica and AEON Biopharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PaxMedica	N/A	-3,167.89%	-560.35%
AEON Biopharma	N/A	N/A	-994.63%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PaxMedica and AEON Biopharma”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PaxMedica	N/A	N/A	-$18.29 million	N/A	N/A
AEON Biopharma	N/A	N/A	-$36.63 million	$67.78	0.01

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.9% of PaxMedica shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.8% of AEON Biopharma shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of PaxMedica shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of AEON Biopharma shares are owned 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

PaxMedica has a beta of -1.44, indicating that its share price is 244% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AEON Biopharma has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for PaxMedica and AEON Biopharma, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PaxMedica	0	0	0	0	0.00
AEON Biopharma	0	0	1	0	3.00

AEON Biopharma has a consensus target price of $360.00, indicating a potential upside of 71,713.29%. Given AEON Biopharma’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AEON Biopharma is more favorable than PaxMedica.

Summary

AEON Biopharma beats PaxMedica on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PaxMedica

PaxMedica, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of anti-purinergic drug therapies for the treatment of disorders with intractable neurologic symptoms. Its lead product candidate is PAX-101 that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, an intravenous formulation of suramin for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, long COVID-19 syndrome, fragile X syndrome, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome. The company is developing PAX-102, an intranasal formulation of suramin for neurologic indications, as well as other new chemical entities that are targeted and selective antagonists of purine receptor subtypes; and PAX-HAT-301 for the treatment of HAT. It has a research collaboration agreement with PolarMar Health for Phase II clinical trial in austism spectrum disorder for emodin, which retains the rights for PolarMar to develop and commercialize any non-prescription supplement form of the product, and for PaxMedica, Inc. to retain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize a highly purified form of emodin. The company was formerly known as Purinix Pharmaceuticals LLC and changed its name to PaxMedica, Inc. in April 2020. PaxMedica, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Tarrytown, New York.

About AEON Biopharma

AEON Biopharma, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing botulinum toxins. It develops ABP-450 (prabotulinumtoxinA) injection for debilitating medical conditions, which completed Phase 2 study for the treatment of cervical dystonia and has an ongoing Phase 2 study for the treatment of both chronic and episodic migraine, as well as develops ABP-450 for the treatment of gastroparesis and posttraumatic stress disorder. The company is based in Irvine, California.