Reviewing Quince Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QNCX) and Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vaxart	-431.61%	-110.46%	-62.78%
Quince Therapeutics	N/A	-53.27%	-22.73%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Vaxart and Quince Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vaxart	0	0	1	0	3.00
Quince Therapeutics	0	0	4	2	3.33

Vaxart presently has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 641.98%. Quince Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 559.72%. Given Vaxart’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Vaxart is more favorable than Quince Therapeutics.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vaxart and Quince Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vaxart	$20.14 million	6.09	-$82.46 million	($0.41)	-1.31
Quince Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$31.39 million	($1.24)	-1.16

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.0% of Vaxart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.8% of Quince Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Vaxart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Quince Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Vaxart has a beta of 1.69, suggesting that its stock price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Quince Therapeutics has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Quince Therapeutics beats Vaxart on 10 of the 14 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 Quince Therapeutics

Quince Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing therapeutics for patients with debilitating and rare diseases. The company's lead asset candidature comprises EryDex for the treatment of rare pediatric neurodegenerative disease, including A-T, an inherited autosomal recessive neurodegenerative and immunodeficiency disorder caused by mutations in ATM gene. Its AIDE technology platform, a drug/device combination platform that uses an automated process to encapsulate a drug into a patient's own red blood cells, as well as consists of an automated equipment the RCL, a sterile single-use consumable treatment kit comprising EryKit, Syringe Kit, drugs, and process solutions. The company was formerly known as Cortexyme, Inc. and changed its name to Quince Therapeutics, Inc. in August 2022. Quince Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.