Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM – Get Free Report) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
Beam Therapeutics has a beta of 2.2, indicating that its stock price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novavax has a beta of 2.44, indicating that its stock price is 144% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Beam Therapeutics and Novavax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Beam Therapeutics | -54.75% | -30.71% | -24.07% |
| Novavax | -59.87% | -14.82% | -13.35% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations for Beam Therapeutics and Novavax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Beam Therapeutics | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2.75 |
| Novavax | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.20 |
Beam Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $46.90, indicating a potential upside of 72.24%. Novavax has a consensus target price of $12.33, indicating a potential upside of 22.35%. Given Beam Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Beam Therapeutics is more favorable than Novavax.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Beam Therapeutics and Novavax”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Beam Therapeutics | $139.74 million | 20.13 | -$79.99 million | ($0.86) | -31.66 |
| Novavax | $1.12 billion | 1.48 | $440.30 million | ($1.52) | -6.63 |
Novavax has higher revenue and earnings than Beam Therapeutics. Beam Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Novavax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
99.7% of Beam Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.0% of Novavax shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Beam Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Novavax shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Beam Therapeutics beats Novavax on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Beam Therapeutics
Beam Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development of precision genetic medicines for patients suffering from serious diseases in the United States. It develops BEAM-101 for the treatment of sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia; and BEAM-302, a liver-targeting LNP formulation to treat severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; BEAM-201, an anti-CD7 CAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma; and BEAM-301, a liver-targeting LNP formulation for the treatment of glycogen storage disease 1a. The company has research collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc., focus on in vivo base editing programs for targets rare genetic diseases of the liver, muscle, and central nervous system; Apellis Pharmaceuticals to conduct preclinical research on target specific genes within the complement system in various organs, including the eye, liver, and brain; Verve Therapeutics, Inc., for cardiovascular disease treatments; Sana Biotechnology, Inc., to research, develop, and commercialize rights to CRISPR Cas12b for cell therapy programs; and Orbital Therapeutics design RNA for the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of human disease. Beam Therapeutics Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Novavax
Novavax, Inc., a biotechnology company, that promotes improved health by discovering, developing, and commercializing vaccines to protect against serious infectious diseases. It offers vaccine platform that combines a recombinant protein approach, nanoparticle technology, and its patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response. It focuses on urgent health challenges, which is evaluating vaccines for COVID-19, influenza, and COVID-19 influenza combination. The company is commercializing a COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373 under the brand names of Nuvaxovid, Covovax, and Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, adjuvanted for adult and adolescent populations as a primary series and for both homologous and heterologous booster indications. It is also developing R21/Matrix-M adjuvant malaria vaccine. Novavax, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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