AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN – Get Free Report) and CureVac (NASDAQ:CVAC – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares AstraZeneca and CureVac’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| AstraZeneca | 16.17% | 32.89% | 13.00% |
| CureVac | 199.92% | -23.03% | -19.09% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares AstraZeneca and CureVac”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| AstraZeneca | $58.74 billion | 5.42 | $7.04 billion | $5.81 | 35.36 |
| CureVac | $70.74 million | 14.78 | $175.50 million | $0.72 | 6.47 |
AstraZeneca has higher revenue and earnings than CureVac. CureVac is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AstraZeneca, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk and Volatility
AstraZeneca has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CureVac has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
20.4% of AstraZeneca shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of CureVac shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of CureVac shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for AstraZeneca and CureVac, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2.80 |
| CureVac | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
AstraZeneca presently has a consensus price target of $95.75, suggesting a potential downside of 53.40%. CureVac has a consensus price target of $6.83, suggesting a potential upside of 46.64%. Given CureVac’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CureVac is more favorable than AstraZeneca.
Summary
AstraZeneca beats CureVac on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company’s marketed products include Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Farxiga, Brilinta, Lokelma, Roxadustat, Andexxa, Crestor, Seloken, Onglyza, Bydureon, Fasenra, Breztri, Symbicort, Saphnelo, Tezspire, Pulmicort, Bevespi, and Daliresp for cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, and oncology. Its marketed products also comprise Vaxzevria, Beyfortus, Synagis, FluMist, Soliris, Ultomiris, Strensiq, Koselugo, and Kanuma for covid-19 and rare disease. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; BenevolentAI for drug discovery for systemic lupus erythematosus; and Absci Corporation for AI-driven drug discovery against an oncology target. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.
About CureVac
CureVac N.V., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing various transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). It is developing prophylactic vaccines, such as mRNA-based vaccine candidates CV2CoV, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial against SARS-CoV-2; CV7202 which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of rabies; and CVSQIV to treat multivalent seasonal influenza; Flu SV mRNA fot treating nucleotides, single antigen seasonal influenza. The company develops CV8102, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for treating melanoma and adenoidcystic carcinoma, as well as squamous cell cancer of skin, head, and neck; and CVGBM for treating cancer. CureVac N.V. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tübingen, Germany.
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