Critical Review: AlloVir (NASDAQ:ALVR) vs. Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT)

AlloVir (NASDAQ:ALVR) and Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

66.1% of AlloVir shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.2% of Adaptive Biotechnologies shares are held by institutional investors. 33.9% of AlloVir shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Adaptive Biotechnologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AlloVir and Adaptive Biotechnologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AlloVir	N/A	-98.50%	-78.56%
Adaptive Biotechnologies	-123.24%	-56.58%	-27.45%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for AlloVir and Adaptive Biotechnologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AlloVir	2	3	1	0	1.83
Adaptive Biotechnologies	0	2	4	0	2.67

AlloVir presently has a consensus target price of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2,391.92%. Adaptive Biotechnologies has a consensus target price of $6.80, suggesting a potential upside of 120.78%. Given AlloVir’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AlloVir is more favorable than Adaptive Biotechnologies.

Risk & Volatility

AlloVir has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adaptive Biotechnologies has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AlloVir and Adaptive Biotechnologies’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AlloVir	N/A	N/A	-$190.42 million	($1.66)	-0.45
Adaptive Biotechnologies	$170.28 million	2.67	-$225.25 million	($1.49)	-2.07

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

Summary

Adaptive Biotechnologies beats AlloVir on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AlloVir

Allovir, Inc., a clinical-stage cell therapy company, engages in the research and development of allogeneic, off-the-shelf multi-virus specific T cell (VST) therapies to prevent and treat devastating viral-associated diseases. The company's lead product is posoleucel, an allogeneic, off-the-shelf VST therapy, to treat BK virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6, and JC virus. Its preclinical and clinical development product candidates include ALVR106 for the respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, parainfluenza virus, and human metapneumovirus; ALVR109 to treat SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19; ALVR107 for treating hepatitis B; and ALVR108. The company was formerly known as ViraCyte, Inc. and changed its name to Allovir, Inc. in May 2019. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, a commercial-stage company, develops an immune medicine platform for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The company offers immunosequencing platform which combines a suite of proprietary chemistry, computational biology, and machine learning to generate clinical immunomics data to decode the adaptive immune system. It also provides clonoSEQ diagnostic test which detects and monitors the remaining number of cancer cells that are present in a patient's body during and after treatment, known as Minimal Residual Disease (MRD). The company offers products and services for life sciences research, clinical diagnostics, and drug discovery applications. Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation has strategic collaborations with Genentech, Inc. for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of neoantigen directed T cell therapies for the treatment of a range of cancers; and Microsoft Corporation to develop diagnostic tests for the early detection of various diseases from a single blood test. The company was formerly known as Adaptive TCR Corporation and changed its name to Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation in December 2011. Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.