Head-To-Head Contrast: Ventyx Biosciences (NASDAQ:VTYX) and Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL)

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

Risk and Volatility

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

Profitability

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

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.9% of Ventyx Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.2% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.4% of Ventyx Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ventyx Biosciences	N/A	N/A	-$192.96 million	($3.30)	-1.35
Avadel Pharmaceuticals	$27.96 million	56.13	-$160.28 million	($2.04)	-8.50

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

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

Ventyx Biosciences presently has a consensus target price of $21.75, indicating a potential upside of 386.58%. Avadel Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $22.57, indicating a potential upside of 30.24%. Given Ventyx Biosciences’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ventyx Biosciences is more favorable than Avadel Pharmaceuticals.

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.

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.