Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ:DVAX) & Vaxxinity (NASDAQ:VAXX) Critical Review

Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ:DVAX) and Vaxxinity (NASDAQ:VAXX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Dynavax Technologies has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vaxxinity has a beta of 0.36, indicating that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dynavax Technologies and Vaxxinity”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dynavax Technologies	$260.81 million	6.55	-$6.39 million	$0.13	100.00
Vaxxinity	$70,000.00	0.36	-$56.93 million	($0.45)	0.00

Dynavax Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Vaxxinity. Vaxxinity is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dynavax Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Dynavax Technologies and Vaxxinity’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dynavax Technologies	7.85%	3.19%	2.02%
Vaxxinity	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Dynavax Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.9% of Vaxxinity shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Dynavax Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 64.1% of Vaxxinity shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Dynavax Technologies and Vaxxinity, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dynavax Technologies	0	1	2	0	2.67
Vaxxinity	0	0	0	0	0.00

Dynavax Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 69.23%. Given Dynavax Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Dynavax Technologies is more favorable than Vaxxinity.

Summary

Dynavax Technologies beats Vaxxinity on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dynavax Technologies

Dynavax Technologies Corporation, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing vaccines in the United States. It markets HEPLISAV-B, a hepatitis B vaccine for prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus in age 18 years and older in the United States and Europe. The company also manufactures and sells CpG 1018, the adjuvant used in HEPLISAV-B. Dynavax Technologies Corporation has a collaboration agreement with Valneva Scotland Limited; Zhejiang Clover Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.; Clover Biopharmaceuticals (Hong Kong) Co., Limited; Biological E. Limited; PT Bio Farma; Medigen Vaccine Biologics; and Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. The company was formerly known as Double Helix Corporation and changed its name to Dynavax Technologies Corporation in September 1996. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

About Vaxxinity

Vaxxinity, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on developing product candidates for human use in the fields of neurology, cardiovascular diseases, and coronaviruses in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises UB-311, which is in phase 2 clinical trial that targets toxic forms of aggregated amyloid-b in the brain to fight alzheimer's disease; UB-312, which is in phase 1 clinical trial that targets toxic forms of aggregated a-synuclein in the brain to fight parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies, such as Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy; and VXX-301, which is in preclinical trial, an anti-tau product candidate for various neurodegenerative conditions, including alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It also develops VXX-401, which is phase 1 clinical trial that targets proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 serine protease to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiac events; UB-313 that targets calcitonin gene-related peptide to fight migraines; and UB-612, neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is in phase 3 clinical trial. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Merritt Island, Florida.