Financial Comparison: Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) & Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX)

Oncocyte (NASDAQ:IMDX) and Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Oncocyte has a beta of 1.9, meaning that its share price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valneva has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Oncocyte and Valneva, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oncocyte	1	0	2	0	2.33
Valneva	2	0	1	0	1.67

Oncocyte presently has a consensus price target of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 372.97%. Valneva has a consensus price target of $9.30, suggesting a potential upside of 62.87%. Given Oncocyte’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Oncocyte is more favorable than Valneva.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Oncocyte and Valneva”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oncocyte	$4.05 million	17.94	-$50.22 million	($1.49)	-1.49
Valneva	$197.56 million	2.75	-$130.33 million	($2.11)	-2.71

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

Profitability

This table compares Oncocyte and Valneva’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oncocyte	-2,955.63%	N/A	-107.52%
Valneva	-110.33%	-153.20%	-39.50%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

55.3% of Oncocyte shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.4% of Valneva shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Oncocyte shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of Valneva shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Oncocyte beats Valneva on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oncocyte

Oncocyte Corporation, now known as Insight Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMDX), is a molecular diagnostics company focused on monitoring organ transplants. Its tests analyze donor-derived cell-free DNA in a transplant recipient’s blood to help assess graft health and identify signs of potential injury or rejection. The company’s VitaGraft tests include assays for kidney and liver transplant monitoring. These laboratory-developed tests are processed through the company’s clinical laboratory and are intended to provide clinicians with information that can complement other aspects of post-transplant care.

About Valneva

Valneva is a specialty vaccine company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases. Founded in 2013 through the combination of Vivalis and Intercell, the company is headquartered in Saint-Herblain, France, and serves markets in Europe, North America and other regions through direct operations and commercial partners. Its marketed vaccines include IXIARO, for prevention of Japanese encephalitis, and DUKORAL, an oral vaccine for cholera. Valneva also developed IXCHIQ, a vaccine to prevent disease caused by chikungunya virus, which has received regulatory authorization in the United States and Europe.