Comparing High Tide (NASDAQ:HITI) and Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN)
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyValneva (NASDAQ:VALN – Get Free Report) and High Tide (NASDAQ:HITI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares Valneva and High Tide’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Valneva | -88.87% | -107.63% | -33.02% |
| High Tide | -6.62% | 3.59% | 1.24% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Valneva and High Tide, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Valneva | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.20 |
| High Tide | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2.75 |
Valneva presently has a consensus target price of $11.97, suggesting a potential upside of 129.41%. High Tide has a consensus target price of $7.25, suggesting a potential upside of 215.22%. Given High Tide’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe High Tide is more favorable than Valneva.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
11.4% of Valneva shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 4.5% of High Tide shares are held by institutional investors. 14.9% of Valneva shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.4% of High Tide shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Valneva and High Tide”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Valneva | $156.33 million | 3.17 | -$130.33 million | ($1.87) | -2.79 |
| High Tide | $671.35 million | 0.30 | -$36.23 million | ($0.31) | -7.42 |
High Tide has higher revenue and earnings than Valneva. High Tide is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valneva, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Valneva has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, High Tide has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
High Tide beats Valneva on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Valneva
Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company, develops, manufactures, and commercializes prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases with unmet needs. It offers IXIARO, an inactivated Vero cell culture-derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine indicated for active immunization against Japanese encephalitis; DUKORAL, an oral vaccine for the prevention of diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholera and/or heat-labile toxin producing enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli bacterium; IXCHIQ, a single-dose, live-attenuated vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus; and VLA2001, an inactivated whole-virus COVID-19 vaccine. The company also develops VLA15, a vaccine candidate, which is in Phase III clinical trial against Borrelia, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease; VLA1553, a vaccine candidate, which is in Phase III clinical trial against the chikungunya virus; VLA1554, a vaccine candidate targeting human metapneumovirus; and VLA2112, a vaccine candidate to treat patients with epstein-barr virus. It sells its products in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Nordics, the United Kingdom, France, rest of European countries, and internationally. Valneva SE has collaborations with Pfizer, Inc. to co-develop and commercialize its Lyme disease vaccine; and Instituto Butantan for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of single-shot chikungunya vaccine. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Saint-Herblain, France.
About High Tide
High Tide Inc. engages in the cannabis retail business in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Retail and Wholesale segments. It operates licensed retail cannabis stores; and provides data analytics services. In addition, the company manufactures and distributes consumption accessories. Further, it sells its products through online sales via e-commerce platform. The company offers its products under the Daily High Club, DankStop, FABCBD, GC, Nuleaf, Smoke Cartel, and Blessed CBD brands. The company was formerly known as High Tide Ventures Inc. and changed its name to High Tide Inc. in October 2018. High Tide Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.