CureVac (CVAC) Competitors

Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) and CureVac (NASDAQ:CVAC) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and media sentiment.

Do analysts rate MRUS or CVAC?

Merus presently has a consensus target price of $88.50, suggesting a potential upside of 31.13%. CureVac has a consensus target price of $6.83, suggesting a potential upside of 25.61%. Given Merus' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Merus is more favorable than CureVac.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merus	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.09
CureVac	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, MRUS or CVAC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merus	$56.23M	90.78	-$215.33M	-$5.50	-12.27
CureVac	$579.18M	2.11	$175.50M	$0.96	5.67

Does the media prefer MRUS or CVAC?

In the previous week, CureVac had 1 more articles in the media than Merus. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for CureVac and 4 mentions for Merus. Merus' average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat CureVac's score of -0.07 indicating that Merus is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Merus	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
CureVac	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MRUS or CVAC more profitable?

CureVac has a net margin of 38.21% compared to Merus' net margin of -685.64%. CureVac's return on equity of 29.57% beat Merus' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merus	-685.64%	-50.28%	-42.00%
CureVac	38.21%	29.57%	25.41%

Which has more risk & volatility, MRUS or CVAC?

Merus has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CureVac has a beta of 2.53, suggesting that its stock price is 153% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MRUS or CVAC?

96.1% of Merus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.3% of CureVac shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Merus shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of CureVac shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CureVac beats Merus on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.