Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) versus Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Financial Comparison

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) and Athira Pharma (NASDAQ:ATHA) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Vaxcyte and Athira Pharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxcyte	N/A	-23.53%	-22.20%
Athira Pharma	N/A	-115.62%	-88.94%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.8% of Vaxcyte shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Vaxcyte shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.1% of Athira Pharma shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Vaxcyte and Athira Pharma, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxcyte	0	0	9	1	3.10
Athira Pharma	0	4	0	0	2.00

Vaxcyte presently has a consensus price target of $136.50, suggesting a potential upside of 303.37%. Athira Pharma has a consensus price target of $13.83, suggesting a potential upside of 4,091.92%. Given Athira Pharma’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Athira Pharma is more favorable than Vaxcyte.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vaxcyte and Athira Pharma”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vaxcyte	N/A	N/A	-$402.27 million	($3.99)	-8.48
Athira Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$117.67 million	($2.07)	-0.16

Vaxcyte is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Athira Pharma, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Vaxcyte has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Athira Pharma has a beta of 3.03, suggesting that its share price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness. The company was formerly known as SutroVax, Inc. and changed its name to Vaxcyte, Inc. in May 2020. Vaxcyte, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in San Carlos, California.

About Athira Pharma

Athira Pharma, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegradation. Its lead product candidate is Fosgonimeton (ATH-1017), a small molecule designed to modulate the neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) system and its receptor, MET, for a healthy nervous system that is in LIFT-AD Phase 2/3 and ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, as well as is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat Parkinson's disease dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies. The company's product pipeline includes ATH-1020, an orally available brain-penetrant small molecule designed to enhance the HGF/MET system that is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases; and ATH-1105, an oral small molecule drug candidate, which is a preclinical model for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In addition, it has a license agreement with Washington State University to offer for sale products covered by certain licensed patents, including dihexa, the chemical compound into which fosgonimeton metabolizes following administration; and collaboration and grant agreement with National Institutes of Health Grant to support ACT-AD Phase 2 clinical trial for fosgonimeton. The company was formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, Inc. and changed its name to Athira Pharma, Inc. in April 2019. Athira Pharma, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.