Reviewing Trevi Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TRVI) and MaxCyte (NASDAQ:MXCT)

MaxCyte (NASDAQ:MXCT) and Trevi Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TRVI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares MaxCyte and Trevi Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MaxCyte	$35.75 million	4.29	-$41.06 million	($0.43)	-3.35
Trevi Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$47.91 million	($0.42)	-26.21

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for MaxCyte and Trevi Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MaxCyte	1	2	2	0	2.20
Trevi Therapeutics	1	0	7	1	2.89

MaxCyte currently has a consensus price target of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 386.11%. Trevi Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $21.75, indicating a potential upside of 97.55%. Given MaxCyte’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe MaxCyte is more favorable than Trevi Therapeutics.

Volatility & Risk

MaxCyte has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trevi Therapeutics has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MaxCyte and Trevi Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MaxCyte	-125.22%	-22.12%	-19.10%
Trevi Therapeutics	N/A	-41.44%	-38.21%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.8% of MaxCyte shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.8% of Trevi Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of MaxCyte shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of Trevi Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

About MaxCyte

MaxCyte, Inc., a life sciences company, discovers, develops, and commercializes next-generation cell therapies in the United States and internationally. Its products include ExPERT ATx, a static electroporation instrument for small to medium scale transfection; ExPERT STx, a flow electroporation for protein production and drug development, as well as expression of therapeutic targets for cell-based assays; ExPERT GTx, a flow electroporation for large scale transfection in therapeutic applications; and ExPERT VLx for very large volume cell-engineering. The company also provides disposable processing assemblies (PAs) to process and electroporate cells; and accessories supporting PAs, such as electroporation buffer solution and software protocols. It licenses and sells its instruments and technology; and sells its consumables to developers of cell therapies, as well as to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for use in drug discovery and development, and bio-manufacturing. MaxCyte, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

About Trevi Therapeutics

Trevi Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapy Haduvio for the treatment of chronic cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and refractory chronic cough (RCC) conditions targeting the central and peripheral nervous systems. The company is developing Haduvio, an oral extended-release formulation of nalbuphine, which is in phase 2b Cough Reduction in IPF with nalbuphine ER (CORAL) clinical trial for treatment of chronic cough in patients with IPF; phase 2a Refractory Chronic Cough Improvement Via NAL ER (RIVER) clinical trial for reducing chronic cough in RCC patients; phase 2 clinical trial in patients with pruritus; phase 2b/3 clinical trial in patients with prurigo nodularis. It has a license agreement with Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop and commercialize products incorporating nalbuphine hydrochloride in any formulation. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut.