Contrasting Arcellx (NASDAQ:ACLX) & Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Arcellx (NASDAQ:ACLX) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.0% of Arcellx shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.0% of Novavax shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Arcellx shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Novavax shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Arcellx has a beta of 0.28, meaning that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novavax has a beta of 2.8, meaning that its stock price is 180% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arcellx	-211.46%	-35.27%	-22.73%
Novavax	38.14%	-115.51%	29.99%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Arcellx and Novavax”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arcellx	$107.94 million	32.58	-$107.35 million	($2.99)	-21.34
Novavax	$682.16 million	1.50	-$187.50 million	$2.65	2.38

Arcellx has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Novavax. Arcellx 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 Arcellx and Novavax, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arcellx	0	0	14	1	3.07
Novavax	2	1	4	0	2.29

Arcellx currently has a consensus price target of $111.23, indicating a potential upside of 74.29%. Novavax has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 169.84%. Given Novavax’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Novavax is more favorable than Arcellx.

Summary

Arcellx beats Novavax on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arcellx

Arcellx, Inc., together with its subsidiary, engages in the development of various immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases in the United States. The company’s lead ddCAR product candidate is anitocabtagene autoleucel, which is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (rrMM). It also develops ACLX-001, a product candidate in Phase 1 clinical trials targeting BCMA to treat rrMM; and ACLX-002, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials that targets CD123 for treating relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In addition, the company’s preclinical product includes ACLX-003 for the treatment of AML and MDS. Further, it focuses on the development of product candidates for solid tumor programs. It has a strategic alliance with Kite Pharma, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize anitocabtagene autoleucel. The company was formerly known as Encarta Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Arcellx, Inc. in January 2016. Arcellx, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

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.