Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) vs. Neumora Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NMRA) Head to Head Survey

Vericel (NASDAQ:VCEL) and Neumora Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NMRA) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Vericel and Neumora Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vericel	0	0	7	0	3.00
Neumora Therapeutics	1	5	3	0	2.22

Vericel presently has a consensus price target of $62.29, suggesting a potential upside of 48.58%. Neumora Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $9.29, suggesting a potential upside of 1,160.79%. Given Neumora Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Neumora Therapeutics is more favorable than Vericel.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

47.7% of Neumora Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Vericel shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 26.4% of Neumora Therapeutics 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.

Risk & Volatility

Vericel has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Neumora Therapeutics has a beta of 2.59, indicating that its stock price is 159% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vericel and Neumora Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vericel	1.56%	1.48%	0.96%
Neumora Therapeutics	N/A	-73.63%	-68.97%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Vericel and Neumora Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vericel	$237.22 million	8.86	-$3.18 million	$0.18	232.89
Neumora Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$235.93 million	($1.53)	-0.48

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

Summary

Vericel beats Neumora Therapeutics on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vericel

Vericel Corporation, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of cellular therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care markets in North America. The company markets autologous cell therapy products comprising MACI, an autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane for the repair of symptomatic, and single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee; Epicel, a permanent skin replacement humanitarian use device for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with deep-dermal or full-thickness burns; and NexoBrid, a biological orphan product for eschar removal in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns. The company was formerly known as Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. Vericel Corporation was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Neumora Therapeutics

Neumora Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing therapeutic treatments for brain diseases, neuropsychiatric disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. The company develops navacaprant (NMRA-140), a novel once-daily oral kappa opioid receptor antagonist, which is in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of major depressive disorder. It also develops NMRA-511 that is in phase 1 clinical trials in patients with agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease; and NMRA-266, which is in the phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, its preclinical phase product includes NMRA-NMDA for the treatment of schizophrenia; NMRA-CK1d, a CK1d inhibitor program for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; NMRA-NLRP3 for the treatment of certain neurodegenerative conditions; and NMRA-GCase for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The company was formerly known as RBNC Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. in October 2021. Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.