Head-To-Head Review: BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BioNTech and Novavax’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BioNTech	$4.13 billion	5.06	$1.01 billion	$4.12	21.33
Novavax	$983.71 million	0.59	-$545.06 million	($5.53)	-0.75

BioNTech has higher revenue and earnings than Novavax. Novavax is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BioNTech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

BioNTech has a beta of 0.23, indicating that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novavax has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares BioNTech and Novavax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BioNTech	24.26%	4.60%	4.12%
Novavax	-55.41%	N/A	-32.63%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.5% of BioNTech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.0% of Novavax shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.2% of BioNTech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Novavax shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for BioNTech and Novavax, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BioNTech	1	5	4	0	2.30
Novavax	0	1	2	0	2.67

BioNTech currently has a consensus price target of $120.40, suggesting a potential upside of 36.99%. Novavax has a consensus price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 312.62%. Given Novavax’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Novavax is more favorable than BioNTech.

Summary

BioNTech beats Novavax on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BioNTech

BioNTech SE, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes immunotherapies for cancer and other infectious diseases. The company is developing FixVac product candidates, including BNT111, which is in Phase II clinical trial for advance melanoma; BNT112 that is in Phase I/IIa clinical trial for prostate cancer; BNT113, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat HPV 16+ head and neck cancers; BNT114 to treat triple negative breast cancer; BNT115, which is in Phase I clinical trial in ovarian cancer; and BNT116, which is in Phase I clinical trial for non-small cell lung cancer. It develops BNT122, which is in Phase II clinical trial for first-line melanoma and in Phase I clinical trial to treat multiple solid tumors; BNT131 that is in Phase I clinical trial for multiple solid tumors; BNT141 and BNT142 that are in Phase I clinical trial to treat multiple solid tumors; BNT151, BNT152, and BNT153 to treat solid tumors; BNT211 to treat multiple solid tumors, and BNT221 for pancreatic and other cancers; BNT311 which are in Phase II clinical trial to treat metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and Phase I/II clinical trial to treat multiple solid tumors; and BNT312, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat multiple solid tumors, as well as ONC-392, which is in Phase III clinical trial to treat ovarian cancer and Phase I/II clinical trial to treat multiple solid tumors. It develops BNT321, an IgG1 monoclonal antibody in Phase I clinical trial for pancreatic cancer; BNT411, a small molecule immunomodulator product candidate in Phase I clinical trial for solid tumors; BNT322, which is in Phase I/Ib clinical trial for multiple solid tumors; and prophylactic vaccine for shingles, malaria, tuberculosis, HSV-2, and other infectious diseases. It has collaborations with Genentech, Inc.; Sanofi S.A.; Genmab A/S; Pfizer Inc.; Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd; and Ryvu Therapeutics S.A. BioNTech SE was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Mainz, Germany.

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.