Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX – Get Free Report) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA – Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Scilex and Moderna’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Scilex | $46.74 million | 7.48 | -$114.33 million | ($1.31) | -1.47 |
| Moderna | $6.85 billion | 6.55 | -$4.71 billion | ($15.67) | -7.47 |
Scilex has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Moderna. Moderna is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Scilex, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Scilex | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Moderna | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2.28 |
Scilex presently has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 314.51%. Moderna has a consensus target price of $134.02, indicating a potential upside of 14.48%. Given Scilex’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Scilex is more favorable than Moderna.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
69.7% of Scilex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.3% of Moderna shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Scilex shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Moderna shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Scilex and Moderna’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Scilex | -229.47% | N/A | -106.29% |
| Moderna | -115.82% | -20.10% | -15.00% |
Risk and Volatility
Scilex has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Moderna has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.
About Scilex
Scilex Holding Company focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Its commercial products include ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% (ZTlido), a prescription lidocaine topical product for the relief of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain; ELYXYB, a ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults; and GLOPERBA, a liquid oral version of the anti-gout medicine colchicine indicated for the prophylaxis of painful gout flares in adults. The company is also developing three product candidates, including SP-102 (10 mg dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA), a novel viscous gel formulation of a used corticosteroid for epidural injections, which has completed a Phase 3 study to treat lumbosacral radicular pain or sciatica; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4% (SP-103), a formulation of ZTlido for the treatment of chronic neck pain and low back pain (LBP) that has completed a Phase 2 trial; and SP-104 (4.5 mg low-dose naltrexone hydrochloride delayed-release capsules) (SP-104), a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride, which has completed Phase 1 trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
About Moderna
Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines. The company also offers systemic secreted and cell surface therapeutics; cancer vaccines, such as personalized cancer, KRAS, and checkpoint vaccines; intratumoral immuno-oncology products; rare disease intracellular therapeutics; and inhaled pulmonary therapeutics. It has strategic alliances and collaborations with AstraZeneca; Merck & Co., Inc; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated; Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited; Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.; Metagenomi, Inc.; Carisma Therapeutics, Inc.; CytomX Therapeutics; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; Institute for Life Changing Medicines; and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company was formerly known as Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Moderna, Inc. in August 2018. Moderna, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Receive News & Ratings for Scilex Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Scilex and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
