Comparing Chimerix (NASDAQ:CMRX) and Avenue Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATXI)

Chimerix (NASDAQ:CMRX) and Avenue Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATXI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.4% of Chimerix shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of Avenue Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.1% of Chimerix shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Avenue Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Chimerix and Avenue Therapeutics’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chimerix	$320,000.00	249.28	-$82.10 million	($0.93)	-0.96
Avenue Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$10.38 million	($7.88)	-0.43

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Chimerix and Avenue Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chimerix	0	0	2	0	3.00
Avenue Therapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00

Chimerix presently has a consensus target price of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 855.06%. Given Chimerix’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Chimerix is more favorable than Avenue Therapeutics.

Volatility and Risk

Chimerix has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avenue Therapeutics has a beta of -0.1, suggesting that its share price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Chimerix and Avenue Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chimerix	-25,337.96%	-41.32%	-37.83%
Avenue Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-391.98%

Summary

Chimerix beats Avenue Therapeutics on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chimerix

Chimerix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to improve and extend the lives of patients facing deadly diseases. Its pipeline products include ONC201 a program that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for treating patients with H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma, as well as in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of rare neuroendocrine tumors; and ONC206, an imipridone, Dopamine Receptor D2 (DRD2) antagonist, and caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) agonist, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for adult and pediatric patients with primary central nervous system tumors. The company also develops ONC212, an imipridone agonist of the orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) tumor suppressor GPR132, as well as ClpP for oncology indications; and CMX521, a nucleoside analog antiviral drug candidate for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. It has license agreement with SymBio Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize TEMBEXA for human diseases other than orthopoxviruses, including smallpox. Chimerix, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

About Avenue Therapeutics

Avenue Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of neurologic diseases. Its product candidates include AJ201, which is in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy; intravenous tramadol for the treatment of post-operative acute pain; and BAER-101 for the treatment of epilepsy and panic disorders. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida.