Head-To-Head Contrast: enGene (NASDAQ:ENGN) and Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT)

enGene (NASDAQ:ENGN) and Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares enGene and Vaxart’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
enGene	N/A	-16.69%	-14.27%
Vaxart	-431.61%	-110.46%	-62.78%

Risk & Volatility

enGene has a beta of -0.65, meaning that its stock price is 165% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vaxart has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for enGene and Vaxart, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
enGene	0	0	10	1	3.09
Vaxart	0	0	2	0	3.00

enGene currently has a consensus price target of $29.78, suggesting a potential upside of 327.23%. Vaxart has a consensus price target of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 292.41%. Given enGene’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe enGene is more favorable than Vaxart.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.2% of enGene shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.0% of Vaxart shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.7% of enGene shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Vaxart shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares enGene and Vaxart”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
enGene	N/A	N/A	-$55.14 million	($0.58)	-12.02
Vaxart	$20.14 million	8.63	-$82.46 million	($0.41)	-1.86

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

Summary

enGene beats Vaxart on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About enGene

enGene Holdings Inc., through its subsidiary enGene, Inc., operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops genetic medicines through the delivery of therapeutics to mucosal tissues and other organs. Its lead product candidate is EG-70 (detalimogene voraplasmid), which is a non-viral immunotherapy to treat non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients with carcinoma-in-situ (Cis), who are unresponsive to treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin. The company was founded in 2023 and is based in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

About Vaxart

Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. The company’s product pipeline includes norovirus vaccine, a bivalent oral tablet vaccine in Phase 2 clinical trial for the GI.1 and GII.4 norovirus strains; coronavirus vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection; seasonal influenza vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, to treat H1 influenza infection; and human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine, which is in preclinical stage, that targets HPV-16 and HPV-18 for cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions. It has a license agreement with Altesa Biosciences, Inc. to develop and commercialize Vapendavir, a capsid-binding broad-spectrum antiviral. Vaxart, Inc. is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.