Critical Survey: Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT) and ImmuCell (NASDAQ:ICCC)

Vaxart (OTCMKTS:VXRT) and ImmuCell (NASDAQ:ICCC) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

Vaxart has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ImmuCell has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vaxart and ImmuCell”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	0.38	$16.33 million	$0.13	2.85
ImmuCell	$30.68 million	3.03	-$1.04 million	$0.08	127.75

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

Profitability

This table compares Vaxart and ImmuCell’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxart	16.02%	35.14%	17.10%
ImmuCell	2.57%	2.69%	1.76%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.0% of Vaxart shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.5% of ImmuCell shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Vaxart shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of ImmuCell shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Vaxart and ImmuCell, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxart	0	1	0	0	2.00
ImmuCell	0	1	0	0	2.00

Summary

Vaxart beats ImmuCell on 8 of the 11 factors compared between 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 ImmuCell

ImmuCell Corporation, an animal health company, develops, manufactures, and sells products that enhance the health and productivity of dairy and beef cattle in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Scours and Mastitis. It offers First Defense, an orally delivered scours preventive product for calves with claims against E. coli, coronavirus, and rotavirus; and Tri-Shield First Defense, a passive antibody product for the treatment of E. coli, coronavirus, and rotavirus. The company also provides California Mastitis Test, a quick on-farm diagnostic that is used to detect somatic cell counts in milk, as well as to determine, which quarter of the udder is mastitic; and Dual-Force First Defense, a bivalent gel tube formulation. In addition, it is developing Re-Tain Drug Product, a Nisin-based intramammary treatment of subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows. It sells its products through animal health distributors. ImmuCell Corporation was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Portland, Maine.