Head-To-Head Review: Ayala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ADXS) & Barinthus Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:BRNS)

Ayala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ADXS) and Barinthus Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:BRNS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Ayala Pharmaceuticals and Barinthus Biotherapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ayala Pharmaceuticals	0	1	0	0	2.00
Barinthus Biotherapeutics	0	0	2	0	3.00

Barinthus Biotherapeutics has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 266.97%. Given Barinthus Biotherapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Barinthus Biotherapeutics is more favorable than Ayala Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Ayala Pharmaceuticals and Barinthus Biotherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ayala Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-3,967.23%	-339.10%
Barinthus Biotherapeutics	N/A	-35.19%	-30.80%

Risk and Volatility

Ayala Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.63, meaning that its share price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Barinthus Biotherapeutics has a beta of -0.45, meaning that its share price is 145% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ayala Pharmaceuticals and Barinthus Biotherapeutics’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ayala Pharmaceuticals	$10,000.00	596.63	-$48.07 million	($7.98)	-0.07
Barinthus Biotherapeutics	$800,000.00	106.06	-$73.35 million	($1.92)	-1.14

Ayala Pharmaceuticals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Barinthus Biotherapeutics. Barinthus Biotherapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ayala Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

7.2% of Ayala Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.2% of Barinthus Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ayala Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Barinthus Biotherapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Barinthus Biotherapeutics beats Ayala Pharmaceuticals on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ayala Pharmaceuticals

Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology company, primarily focuses on developing and commercializing small molecule therapeutics for people living with rare tumors and aggressive cancers. The company's lead candidates under development include AL102, an oral gamma secretase inhibitor for desmoid tumors; and aspacytarabine (BST-236), a novel proprietary anti-metabolite for first line treatment in unfit acute myeloid leukemia. Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Barinthus Biotherapeutics

Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in development of novel T cell immunotherapeutic candidates designed to guide the immune system to overcome chronic infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer. The company's development pipeline includes VTP-300, an immunotherapeutic candidate under phase 2 studies as a potential component of a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection; VTP-200, a non-surgical product candidate under phase 2 studies for treating persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection; VTP-1000, an autoimmune preclinical candidate designed to treat patients with celiac disease; VTP-1100 product candidate to target HPV16+ cancers; and VTP-850/850, a second-generation immunotherapeutic candidate under phase 2 studies to treat recurrent prostate cancer. It is also involved in the development of partnered candidates, such as AB-729-202, which is under phase 2a studies for the treatment of patients with chronic HBV infection; VTP-600, an immunotherapy candidate under phase 1 studies as a potential treatment for NSCLC in combination with standard of care treatment, chemotherapy, and pembrolizumab; VTP-500, a prophylactic vaccine product candidate under phase 1 studies to prevent infection and subsequent disease caused by the MERS coronavirus; and VTP-400, a prophylactic vaccine candidate under phase 1 studies to prevent shingles in adults aged 50 years and older. In addition, the company offers Vaxzevria (formerly VTP-900 and AZD1222), a prophylactic vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 Infection. Further, it has license, research and development, and collaboration agreements with OUI, NIH, IMC, CanSino, CRUK; VOLT; and Arbutus. The company was formerly known as Vaccitech plc and changed its name to Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc in November 2023. Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Didcot, the United Kingdom.