Reviewing Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM) and Calidi Biotherapeutics (NYSE:CLDI)

Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM) and Calidi Biotherapeutics (NYSE:CLDI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Adverum Biotechnologies has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Calidi Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

48.2% of Adverum Biotechnologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.5% of Calidi Biotherapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 4.2% of Adverum Biotechnologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 24.3% of Calidi Biotherapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Adverum Biotechnologies and Calidi Biotherapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Adverum Biotechnologies	0	1	5	0	2.83
Calidi Biotherapeutics	0	0	3	0	3.00

Adverum Biotechnologies currently has a consensus price target of $27.83, suggesting a potential upside of 268.17%. Calidi Biotherapeutics has a consensus price target of $16.67, suggesting a potential upside of 393.10%. Given Calidi Biotherapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Calidi Biotherapeutics is more favorable than Adverum Biotechnologies.

Profitability

This table compares Adverum Biotechnologies and Calidi Biotherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Adverum Biotechnologies	N/A	-65.14%	-40.52%
Calidi Biotherapeutics	N/A	N/A	-330.43%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Adverum Biotechnologies and Calidi Biotherapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Adverum Biotechnologies	$3.60 million	43.68	-$117.17 million	($5.99)	-1.26
Calidi Biotherapeutics	$50,000.00	751.04	-$29.22 million	N/A	N/A

Calidi Biotherapeutics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Adverum Biotechnologies.

Summary

Calidi Biotherapeutics beats Adverum Biotechnologies on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Adverum Biotechnologies

Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc., a clinical-stage company, develops gene therapy product candidates to treat ocular diseases. Its lead product candidate is ixoberogene soroparvovec (ADVM-022), a single intravitreal injection gene therapy candidate used for the treatment of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema which is in phase 2 clinical trials. The company is developing ADVM-062 (AAV.7m8-L-opsin), a novel gene therapy product candidate for the treatment of blue cone monochromacy via a single IVT injection. Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. has license and collaboration agreements with University of California; GenSight Biologics; Lexeo Therapeutics; and Virovek, Inc. The company was formerly known as Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. and changed its name to Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. in May 2016. Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

About Calidi Biotherapeutics

Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, engages in developing allogeneic stem cell-based platforms to potentiate and deliver oncolytic viruses to cancer patients in the United States. Its product pipeline comprising CLD-101, which is in phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of high grade glioma; CLD-101, which is in phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent high grade glioma; CLD-201, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, such as triple-negative breast cancer, metastatic/unresectable melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, advanced soft tissue sarcoma, and advanced basal cell carcinoma; and CLD-400, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of lung cancer and metastatic solid tumors. The company offers NeuroNova platform and SuperNova platform. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California.