Novavax (NVAX) Competitors

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking, earnings and risk.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, IONS or NVAX?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$803.07M	6.28	-$366.29M	-$2.44	-13.09
Novavax	$983.71M	1.34	-$545.06M	-$2.26	-3.65

Does the media prefer IONS or NVAX?

In the previous week, Ionis Pharmaceuticals had 2 more articles in the media than Novavax. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and 3 mentions for Novavax. Novavax's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' score of 0.45 indicating that Novavax is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Novavax	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend IONS or NVAX?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $60.65, indicating a potential upside of 89.82%. Novavax has a consensus price target of $17.83, indicating a potential upside of 116.16%. Given Novavax's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Novavax is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.68
Novavax	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is IONS or NVAX more profitable?

Novavax has a net margin of -32.18% compared to Ionis Pharmaceuticals' net margin of -44.58%. Novavax's return on equity of 0.00% beat Ionis Pharmaceuticals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-44.58%	-88.98%	-12.42%
Novavax	-32.18%	N/A	-17.05%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in IONS or NVAX?

Novavax received 154 more outperform votes than Ionis Pharmaceuticals when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.11% of users gave Novavax an outperform vote while only 60.31% of users gave Ionis Pharmaceuticals an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	Outperform Votes 696 60.31%	Underperform Votes 458 39.69%
Novavax	Outperform Votes 850 74.11%	Underperform Votes 297 25.89%

Which has more risk & volatility, IONS or NVAX?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Novavax has a beta of 2.14, suggesting that its share price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in IONS or NVAX?

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.0% of Novavax shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Novavax shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Novavax tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.