Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR – Get Free Report) and Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Vir Biotechnology and Aura Biosciences’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Vir Biotechnology | $39.49 million | 34.63 | -$615.06 million | ($4.59) | -2.21 |
| Aura Biosciences | N/A | N/A | -$58.76 million | ($1.94) | -4.05 |
Aura Biosciences has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vir Biotechnology. Aura Biosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vir Biotechnology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Vir Biotechnology | -713.69% | -34.92% | -27.73% |
| Aura Biosciences | N/A | -40.83% | -35.31% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
65.3% of Vir Biotechnology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.8% of Aura Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.1% of Vir Biotechnology shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.9% of Aura Biosciences shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk & Volatility
Vir Biotechnology has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aura Biosciences has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Vir Biotechnology and Aura Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Vir Biotechnology | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Aura Biosciences | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Vir Biotechnology presently has a consensus target price of $34.38, suggesting a potential upside of 239.34%. Aura Biosciences has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 167.52%. Given Vir Biotechnology’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Vir Biotechnology is more favorable than Aura Biosciences.
Summary
Vir Biotechnology beats Aura Biosciences on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Vir Biotechnology
Vir Biotechnology, Inc., a commercial-stage immunology company, develops therapeutic products to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. It offers tobevibart + elebsiran for the treatment of chronic hepatitis delta; elebsiran + PEG-IFN-a, tobevibart ± elebsiran ± PEG-IFN-a, and elebsiran+ TLR8+PD-1 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; VIR-1388 and Cure mAb combination for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus; VIR-8190 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus / human metapneumovirus; VIR-2981 for the treatment of influenza; VIR-1949 for the treatment of pre-cancerous HPV lesions; and VIR07229 and Sotrovimab for the treatment of COVID-19 infection under the Xevudy brand. The company has grant agreements with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and National Institutes of Health; an option and license agreement with Brii Biosciences Limited; a collaboration and license agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; license agreements with MedImmune; collaboration with WuXi Biologics and Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd.; and a collaborative research agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA. It also has a manufacturing agreement with Samsung Biologics Co.,Ltd. for the manufacture of SARS-COV-2 antibodies. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
About Aura Biosciences
Aura Biosciences, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company that develops therapies to treat cancer. The company develops virus-like drug conjugates (VDC) technology platform for treating tumors of high unmet need in ocular and urologic oncology. It is developing AU-011, a VDC candidate for the treatment of primary choroidal melanoma that is in phase III clinical trial. The company also develops AU-011 for additional ocular oncology indications, including choroidal metastases and is in Phase 2 dose-escalation trial. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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