Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO – Get Free Report) and Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTCMKTS:NWBO – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Profitability
This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Northwest Biotherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | N/A | -259.70% | -83.46% |
| Northwest Biotherapeutics | -9,580.90% | N/A | -313.92% |
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Northwest Biotherapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | $60,000.00 | 1,226.77 | -$84.95 million | ($1.68) | -0.63 |
| Northwest Biotherapeutics | $1.38 million | 234.81 | -$83.78 million | ($18.26) | -0.01 |
Northwest Biotherapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Inovio Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northwest Biotherapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
26.8% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Northwest Biotherapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Northwest Biotherapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Northwest Biotherapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Northwest Biotherapeutics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Inovio Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $6.75, suggesting a potential upside of 536.79%. Given Inovio Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Inovio Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Northwest Biotherapeutics.
Risk and Volatility
Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.7, suggesting that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northwest Biotherapeutics has a beta of -0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 177% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Inovio Pharmaceuticals beats Northwest Biotherapeutics on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids. Its products in pipeline include VGX-3100 for the treatment of HPV-related cervical high-grade dysplasia; INO-3107 for HPV-related recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and is under Phase 1/2 trial; INO-3112 for the treatment of HPV-related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-5401 for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and is under Phase 2 trial; INO-4201 for Ebola Virus Disease and is under Phase 1b trial; INO-4800 for COVID-19 and is under Phase 3 trial; and INO-6160 for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus and is under Phase 1 trial. Its partners and collaborators include Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co, ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The U.S. Department of Defense, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine Institute, Kaneka Eurogentec, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Plumbline Life Sciences, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Richter-Helm BioLogics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, the University of Pennsylvania, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute. The company was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
About Northwest Biotherapeutics
Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops personalized immune therapies for cancer in the United States and internationally. The company develops its products based on DCVax, a platform technology that uses activated dendritic cells to mobilize a patient’s own immune system to attack cancer. Its lead product, DCVax-L, which has completed Phase III clinical trials to treat Glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer. The company also develops DCVax-Direct, which is in Phase I/II clinical trials to treat inoperable solid tumors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
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