Beyond Air (NASDAQ:XAIR) and NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) Head to Head Analysis

NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) and Beyond Air (NASDAQ:XAIR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares NextCure and Beyond Air”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NextCure	N/A	N/A	-$55.84 million	($20.00)	-0.50
Beyond Air	$3.70 million	1.91	-$46.62 million	($5.43)	-0.12

Beyond Air has higher revenue and earnings than NextCure. NextCure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Beyond Air, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.7% of NextCure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 31.5% of Beyond Air shares are held by institutional investors. 13.3% of NextCure shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.0% of Beyond Air shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for NextCure and Beyond Air, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NextCure	1	0	3	0	2.50
Beyond Air	1	0	2	0	2.33

NextCure presently has a consensus price target of $23.00, indicating a potential upside of 132.32%. Beyond Air has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,387.43%. Given Beyond Air’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Beyond Air is more favorable than NextCure.

Volatility and Risk

NextCure has a beta of 1.5, indicating that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Beyond Air has a beta of 0.41, indicating that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares NextCure and Beyond Air’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NextCure	N/A	-152.90%	-109.17%
Beyond Air	-447.75%	-268.82%	-98.49%

Summary

Beyond Air beats NextCure on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NextCure

NextCure, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in discovering and developing novel immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases by restoring normal immune function. The company is developing NC410, an immunomedicine designed to block immune suppression mediated by LAIR-1; NC762, a monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to B7-H4, a protein expressed on multiple tumor types; and NC525, a monoclonal antibody that binds to LAIR-1 to functionally kill AML blast cells and leukemic stem cells while preserving normal blood cells, including hematopoietic stem cells. Its discovery and research programs include an antibody in preclinical evaluation of other potential novel immunomodulatory molecules. It has a license agreement with Yale University. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Beltsville, Maryland.

About Beyond Air

Beyond Air, Inc. operates as a commercial-stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company in the United States. The company engages in the development of LungFit platform, a nitric oxide generator and delivery system. It offers LungFit PH for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. The company is also developing LungFit PRO for the treatment of viral lung infections, such as community-acquired viral pneumonia, including COVID-19, as well as bronchiolitis in hospitalized patients; and LungFit GO for the treatment of nontuberculous mycobacteria. The company was formerly known as AIT Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Beyond Air, Inc. in June 2019. Beyond Air, Inc. is based in Garden City, New York.