Reviewing Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) and Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL)

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) and Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Sol-Gel Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	$731.97 million	1.93	$159.52 million	$2.67	11.36
Sol-Gel Technologies	$11.54 million	5.68	-$10.58 million	($1.23)	-19.11

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Sol-Gel Technologies. Sol-Gel Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Sol-Gel Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	0	3	2	0	2.40
Sol-Gel Technologies	0	0	0	0	0.00

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $31.60, suggesting a potential upside of 4.15%. Given Amphastar Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Amphastar Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Sol-Gel Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and Sol-Gel Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals	18.64%	20.76%	9.68%
Sol-Gel Technologies	-14.25%	-11.80%	-9.39%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.1% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.2% of Sol-Gel Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.1% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 66.5% of Sol-Gel Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sol-Gel Technologies has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals beats Sol-Gel Technologies on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency. The company provides Amphadase, an injection to absorb and disperse other injected drugs; Epinephrine injection for allergic reactions; Lidocaine jelly, an anesthetic product for urological procedures; Lidocaine topical solution for various procedures; Phytonadione injection, a vitamin K1 injection for newborn babies; emergency syringe products; morphine injection for use with patient-controlled analgesia pumps; and Lorazepam injection for surgery and medical procedures. In addition, it offers Neostigmine methylsulfate injection to treat myasthenia gravis and to reverse the effects of muscle relaxants; Isoproterenol hydrochloride injection for mild or transient episodes of heart block; Ganirelix Acetate injection for the inhibition of premature luteinizing hormone surges; Vasopressin to increase blood pressure; and Regadenoson, a stress agent for radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging. Further, the company distributes recombinant human insulin APIs and porcine insulin API. Additionally, it develops generic product candidates, such as injectable, inhalation, and analytical technologies; biosimial product candidates; and intranasal epinephrine for the treatment of allergic reactions. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

About Sol-Gel Technologies

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd., together with its subsidiary Sol-Gel Technologies Inc., develops topical dermatological drugs for patients with severe skin conditions in Israel. The company offers Twyneo, a once-daily, non-antibiotic topical cream for the treatment of acne vulgaris; and Epsolay, a once-daily topical cream for the treatment of papulopustular (subtype II) rosacea. It also develops SGT-610 that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of Gorlin Syndrome; and SGT-210, which has completed Phase I clinical trial, to treat rare hyperkeratinization disorders, such as Darier, PC, PPK, Olmsted, etc. In addition, the company is also involved in the development of generic topical dermatological drug products. It has collaboration with Padagis Israel Pharmaceuticals Ltd; and license agreements with Galderma Holding SA and Searchlight Pharma Inc. Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Ness Ziona, Israel.