Sifting through countless of stocks in the Biotechnology industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutic compounds to treat diseases with high unmet needs. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA). The company also develops EMPAVELI to treat C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and delayed graft function; and APL-3007, a small interfering RNA, or siRNA for the treatment of GA. In addition, it conducts preclinical studies for APL-9099, a treatment targeting the neonatal Fc receptor, or FcRn, which has the potential to be a first-in-class gene editing treatment for future target indications with one-time dosing; and developing other programs with its proprietary in-house capabilities and under its Beam collaboration. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) for development and commercialization of pegcetacoplan; and a collaboration with Beam Therapeutics, Inc. focused on the use of Beam’s base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement-driven diseases. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide therapeutics for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide, an injectable mimetic of hepcidin that is in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera; Icotrokinra, an orally delivered investigational drug which is in phase 3 clinical trials indicated to block biological pathways targeted by marketed injectable antibody drugs; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. The company also develops IL-17 oral peptide antagonist PN-88,1 an oral metabolic/obesity peptide program, and an oral hepcidin mimetic/ferroportin blocker that is in pre-clinical stage. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Newark, California.

Latest Biotechnology and Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. Stock News

As of February 24, 2026, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. had a $2.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Biotechnology median of $280.4 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s stock is down 14.8% in 2026, down 3.6% in the previous five trading days and down 19.59% in the past year.

Currently, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 125.0. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.0 billion with a 2.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -5.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-1.147 per share for the current fiscal year. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of February 24, 2026, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. had a $5.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 69th percentile of all stocks. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.’s stock is down 0.1% in 2026, up 5.1% in the previous five trading days and up 125.52% in the past year.

Currently, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 121.4. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $209.2 million with a 21.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-1.873 per share for the current fiscal year. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	APLS	F
Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.	PTGX	F

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Growth Score of 20, which is Very Weak. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a Growth Score of 13, which is Very Weak.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics or Inc. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	APLS	C
Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.	PTGX	B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Quality Score of 54, which is Average. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a Quality Score of 70, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	APLS	C
Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.	PTGX	A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 44, which is Average. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 86, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Momentum and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 20, Momentum Score of 44 and Quality Score of 54.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 13, Momentum Score of 86 and Quality Score of 70.

Comparing Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagonist Therapeutics and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.