Head to Head Comparison: Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) versus Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX)

Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) and Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

69.2% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.9% of Ventyx Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.4% of Ventyx Biosciences shares are owned by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

Avadel Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ventyx Biosciences has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Avadel Pharmaceuticals and Ventyx Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avadel Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-198.06%	-84.51%
Ventyx Biosciences	N/A	-62.58%	-57.42%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Avadel Pharmaceuticals and Ventyx Biosciences’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avadel Pharmaceuticals	$27.96 million	0.00	-$160.28 million	($2.04)	N/A
Ventyx Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$192.96 million	($3.30)	-1.42

Avadel Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Ventyx Biosciences. Ventyx Biosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Avadel Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Avadel Pharmaceuticals and Ventyx Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avadel Pharmaceuticals	0	0	7	0	3.00
Ventyx Biosciences	0	4	5	0	2.56

Avadel Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $22.57, suggesting a potential upside of ∞. Ventyx Biosciences has a consensus target price of $21.75, suggesting a potential upside of 365.74%. Given Avadel Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Avadel Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Ventyx Biosciences.

Summary

Avadel Pharmaceuticals beats Ventyx Biosciences on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avadel Pharmaceuticals

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc operates as a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. Its lead product candidate is LUMRYZ, a formulation of sodium oxybate, which is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy. The company was formerly known as Flamel Technologies SA and changed its name to Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc in January 2017. Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Ventyx Biosciences

Ventyx Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops small molecule product candidates to address a range of inflammatory diseases. The company's lead clinical product candidate is VTX958, a selective allosteric tyrosine kinase type 2 inhibitor for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn's disease. It is also developing VTX002, a sphingosine 1 phosphate receptor modulator that is in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of ulcerative colitis; and VTX2735, a peripheral-targeted NOD-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome inhibitor to treat patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome. In addition, the company develops VTX3232, a CNS-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor. Ventyx Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is based in San Diego, California.