NKGen Biotech (NYSE:NKGN) and HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) Critical Analysis

HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) and NKGen Biotech (NYSE:NKGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

HilleVax has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NKGen Biotech has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares HilleVax and NKGen Biotech”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
HilleVax	N/A	N/A	-$123.57 million	($3.10)	-0.65
NKGen Biotech	$80,000.00	193.77	-$82.94 million	($5.08)	-0.09

NKGen Biotech has higher revenue and earnings than HilleVax. HilleVax is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NKGen Biotech, 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 HilleVax and NKGen Biotech, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
HilleVax	0	6	0	0	2.00
NKGen Biotech	0	0	0	0	0.00

HilleVax currently has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 49.25%. Given HilleVax’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe HilleVax is more favorable than NKGen Biotech.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.4% of HilleVax shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.2% of NKGen Biotech shares are owned by institutional investors. 71.1% of HilleVax shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 74.7% of NKGen Biotech shares are owned by company 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 HilleVax and NKGen Biotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
HilleVax	N/A	-67.27%	-51.99%
NKGen Biotech	N/A	N/A	-479.36%

Summary

HilleVax beats NKGen Biotech on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About HilleVax

HilleVax, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel vaccines in the United States. It develops HIL-214, a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection. The company was formerly known as MokshaCo, Inc. and changed its name to HilleVax, Inc. in February 2021. HilleVax, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About NKGen Biotech

NKGen Biotech, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage biotechnology company that focuses on the development and commercialization of autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK natural killer cell therapies. It develops SNK01, an autologous NK cell therapy; and SNK02, an allogeneic NK cell therapy, which are in Phase 1 clinical trials. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Santa Ana, California.