Head-To-Head Review: Gyre Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GYRE) & Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT)

Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT) and Gyre Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GYRE) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Vaxart and Gyre Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxart	0	1	0	0	2.00
Gyre Therapeutics	1	1	2	0	2.25

Gyre Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 154.87%. Given Gyre Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Gyre Therapeutics is more favorable than Vaxart.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.0% of Vaxart shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of Gyre Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Vaxart shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of Gyre Therapeutics 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.

Profitability

This table compares Vaxart and Gyre Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxart	15.88%	53.04%	20.85%
Gyre Therapeutics	-15.47%	-6.61%	-5.65%

Risk & Volatility

Vaxart has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gyre Therapeutics has a beta of 1.92, suggesting that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vaxart and Gyre Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vaxart	$237.26 million	0.56	$16.33 million	$0.16	3.44
Gyre Therapeutics	$116.59 million	6.38	$5.03 million	($0.09)	-74.11

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

About Vaxart

Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. The company’s product pipeline includes norovirus vaccine, a bivalent oral tablet vaccine in Phase 2 clinical trial for the GI.1 and GII.4 norovirus strains; coronavirus vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection; seasonal influenza vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, to treat H1 influenza infection; and human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine, which is in preclinical stage, that targets HPV-16 and HPV-18 for cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions. It has a license agreement with Altesa Biosciences, Inc. to develop and commercialize Vapendavir, a capsid-binding broad-spectrum antiviral. Vaxart, Inc. is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Gyre Therapeutics

Gyre Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, primarily focuses on the development and commercialization of Hydronidone for the treatment of Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatohepatitis in the United States. Its Hydronidone is also being evaluated for the treatment of liver fibrosis across a spectrum of chronic liver diseases. In addition, it advances a product pipeline in China, including Pirfenidone, for dermatomyositis interstitial lung disease, systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, and pneumoconiosis, as well as for diabetic kidney disease; and product candidates for acute-on-chronic liver failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.