Better Buy: Novavax vs. Moderna

With more than a dozen companies now involved, the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 is crowded. Several of those companies stand out from the pack, though, including Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA). These two biotechs have been moving rapidly through the early stages of the development of their respective vaccine candidates, and with investors looking to pick out the eventual winner, both have provided market-shattering returns of late.

However, Moderna's excellent performance year-to-date -- its stock is up by 217% since the beginning of the year -- looks positively tame compared with Novavax, which has seen a more than 1,000% gain since the year started. Looking forward, which of these two companies is more likely to outpace the other?