Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) vs. ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) Critical Review

ProKidney (NASDAQ:PROK) and Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

51.6% of ProKidney shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.2% of Cortexyme shares are owned by institutional investors. 41.5% of ProKidney shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.9% of Cortexyme shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ProKidney and Cortexyme”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ProKidney	N/A	N/A	-$35.47 million	($0.55)	-3.07
Cortexyme	N/A	N/A	-$89.94 million	($2.97)	-0.62

ProKidney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cortexyme, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for ProKidney and Cortexyme, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ProKidney	0	3	2	0	2.40
Cortexyme	0	0	0	0	0.00

ProKidney presently has a consensus price target of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 166.27%. Given ProKidney’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe ProKidney is more favorable than Cortexyme.

Volatility & Risk

ProKidney has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cortexyme has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares ProKidney and Cortexyme’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ProKidney	N/A	N/A	-10.24%
Cortexyme	N/A	-70.96%	-63.53%

Summary

ProKidney beats Cortexyme on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ProKidney

ProKidney Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, provides transformative proprietary cell therapy platform for treating various chronic kidney diseases in the United States. The company's lead product is Renal Autologous Cell Therapy (REACT), an autologous homologous cell admixture, which has completed Phase I clinical trial for REACT in patients with congenital anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), as well as in Phase III and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of moderate to severe diabetic kidney disease. ProKidney Corp. founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

About Cortexyme

Cortexyme, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapeutics for Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases. Its lead drug candidate is atuzaginstat (COR388), an orally administered brain-penetrating small molecule gingipain inhibitor, which is in Phase II/III clinical trial for use in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, as well as for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma, periodontitis, and coronavirus infection. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.