Critical Contrast: Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM) vs. Vigil Neuroscience (NASDAQ:VIGL)

Vigil Neuroscience (NASDAQ:VIGL) and Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Vigil Neuroscience and Adverum Biotechnologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vigil Neuroscience	N/A	-76.02%	-62.85%
Adverum Biotechnologies	N/A	-74.45%	-44.81%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vigil Neuroscience and Adverum Biotechnologies”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vigil Neuroscience	N/A	N/A	-$82.64 million	($2.12)	-1.87
Adverum Biotechnologies	$3.60 million	48.89	-$117.17 million	($10.20)	-0.83

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

Risk and Volatility

Vigil Neuroscience has a beta of 1.95, indicating that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adverum Biotechnologies has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Vigil Neuroscience and Adverum Biotechnologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vigil Neuroscience	1	0	4	0	2.60
Adverum Biotechnologies	0	1	5	0	2.83

Vigil Neuroscience presently has a consensus target price of $16.60, indicating a potential upside of 319.19%. Adverum Biotechnologies has a consensus target price of $28.17, indicating a potential upside of 232.15%. Given Vigil Neuroscience’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vigil Neuroscience is more favorable than Adverum Biotechnologies.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.6% of Vigil Neuroscience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of Adverum Biotechnologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 33.0% of Vigil Neuroscience shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Adverum Biotechnologies 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.

About Vigil Neuroscience

Vigil Neuroscience, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing treatments for rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia, the sentinel immune cells of the brain. Its lead candidate is VGL101(Iluzanebart), a human monoclonal antibody agonist targeting human triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 and is in a Phase 2 trial in patients with adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease. The company is also developing VG-3927, an orally-available small molecule TREM2 agonist to treat common neurodegenerative diseases associated with microglial dysfunction, with an initial focus on Alzheimer’s disease in genetically defined subpopulations, which is being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial. It has license agreement with Amgen Inc. to commercially develop, manufacture, use, distribute, and sell therapeutic products containing compounds that bind to TREM2. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

About Adverum Biotechnologies

Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc., a clinical-stage company, develops gene therapy product candidates to treat ocular diseases. Its lead product candidate is ixoberogene soroparvovec (ADVM-022), a single intravitreal injection gene therapy candidate used for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema which is in phase 2 clinical trials. The company is developing ADVM-062 (AAV.7m8-L-opsin), a novel gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of blue cone monochromacy via a single IVT injection. Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. has license and collaboration agreements with University of California; GenSight Biologics; Lexeo Therapeutics; and Virovek, Inc. The company was formerly known as Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. in May 2016. Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.