Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX – Get Free Report) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
96.8% of Vaxcyte shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.7% of Gilead Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Vaxcyte shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Gilead Sciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Vaxcyte and Gilead Sciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Vaxcyte | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Gilead Sciences | 0 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 2.72 |
Volatility and Risk
Vaxcyte has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gilead Sciences has a beta of 0.18, meaning that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Vaxcyte and Gilead Sciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Vaxcyte | N/A | N/A | -$402.27 million | ($4.60) | -17.25 |
| Gilead Sciences | $28.75 billion | 4.83 | $480.00 million | $0.37 | 301.39 |
Gilead Sciences has higher revenue and earnings than Vaxcyte. Vaxcyte is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gilead Sciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Vaxcyte and Gilead Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Vaxcyte | N/A | -23.53% | -22.20% |
| Gilead Sciences | 1.67% | 31.63% | 10.38% |
Summary
Gilead Sciences beats Vaxcyte on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Vaxcyte
Vaxcyte, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness. The company was formerly known as SutroVax, Inc. and changed its name to Vaxcyte, Inc. in May 2020. Vaxcyte, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis. It also offers Yescarta, Tecartus, and Trodelvy products for the treatment of oncology; Letairis, an oral formulation for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; and AmBisome, a liposomal formulation for the treatment of serious invasive fungal infections. The company has collaboration agreements with Arcus Biosciences, Inc.; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.; Pionyr Immunotherapeutics Inc.; Tizona Therapeutics, Inc.; Galapagos NV; Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company; Japan Tobacco, Inc.; Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc.; Arcellx, Inc.; Everest Medicines; Merck & Co, Inc.; Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc.; and Assembly Biosciences, Inc. It also has research collaboration, option, and license agreement with Merus N.V. for the discovery of novel dual tumor-associated antigens (TAA) targeting trispecific antibodies. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
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