Contrasting Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) & Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EYPT)

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EYPT) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Moderna and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Moderna	-143.55%	-26.64%	-19.32%
Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals	-3,566.63%	-108.31%	-88.87%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Moderna and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Moderna	$1.94 billion	11.09	-$2.82 billion	($8.15)	-6.67
Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals	$31.37 million	36.49	-$231.96 million	($3.50)	-3.90

Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Moderna. Moderna is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Moderna has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.3% of Moderna shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.4% of Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.8% of Moderna shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Eyepoint 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Moderna and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Moderna	5	12	2	0	1.84
Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals	1	0	5	2	3.00

Moderna presently has a consensus price target of $35.73, suggesting a potential downside of 34.25%. Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $31.80, suggesting a potential upside of 132.80%. Given Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Moderna.

Summary

Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals beats Moderna on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Moderna

Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company, discovers, develops, and commercializes messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases in the United States, Europe, and internationally. Its respiratory vaccines include COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, spikevax, and hMPV/PIV3 vaccines; latent vaccines comprise cytomegalovirus, epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and human immunodeficiency virus vaccines; public health vaccines consists of Zika, Nipah, Mpox vaccines; and infectious diseases vaccines, such as lyme and norovirus vaccines. The company also offers systemic secreted and cell surface therapeutics; cancer vaccines, such as personalized cancer, KRAS, and checkpoint vaccines; intratumoral immuno-oncology products; rare disease intracellular therapeutics; and inhaled pulmonary therapeutics. It has strategic alliances and collaborations with AstraZeneca; Merck & Co., Inc; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated; Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited; Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.; Metagenomi, Inc.; Carisma Therapeutics, Inc.; CytomX Therapeutics; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; Institute for Life Changing Medicines; and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company was formerly known as Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Moderna, Inc. in August 2018. Moderna, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing and commercializing therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with serious retinal diseases. The company's pipeline leverages its proprietary bioerodible Durasert E technology for sustained intraocular drug delivery. Its lead product candidate is EYP-1901, an investigational sustained delivery treatment for VEGF-mediated retinal diseases combining vorolanib, a selective and patent-protected tyrosine kinase inhibitor with Durasert E which is in Phase 2 clinical trials for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and diabetic macular edema (DME). The company's pipeline programs also include EYP-2301, a promising TIE-2 agonist formulated in Durasert E to potentially improve outcomes in serious retinal diseases. The company was formerly known as pSivida Corp. and changed its name to EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in March 2018. EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.