Head-To-Head Analysis: Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) versus Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM)

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) and Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BEAM) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Novavax and Beam Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Novavax	-59.87%	-14.82%	-13.35%
Beam Therapeutics	-54.75%	-30.71%	-24.07%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.0% of Novavax shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Beam Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Novavax shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Beam Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Novavax and Beam Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Novavax	$1.12 billion	1.54	$440.30 million	($1.52)	-6.89
Beam Therapeutics	$139.74 million	21.32	-$79.99 million	($0.86)	-33.53

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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Novavax and Beam Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Novavax	3	2	5	0	2.20
Beam Therapeutics	1	2	8	1	2.75

Novavax currently has a consensus target price of $12.33, indicating a potential upside of 17.80%. Beam Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $46.90, indicating a potential upside of 62.62%. Given Beam Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Beam Therapeutics is more favorable than Novavax.

Volatility & Risk

Novavax has a beta of 2.44, meaning that its stock price is 144% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beam Therapeutics has a beta of 2.2, meaning that its stock price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Beam Therapeutics beats Novavax on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.