Financial Review: LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) vs. CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON)

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) and CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares LENZ Therapeutics and CG Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LENZ Therapeutics	N/A	-58.48%	-55.50%
CG Oncology	-10,642.98%	-18.97%	-15.36%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LENZ Therapeutics and CG Oncology”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LENZ Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$124.65 million	N/A	N/A
CG Oncology	$684,000.00	2,843.62	-$48.61 million	N/A	N/A

CG Oncology has higher revenue and earnings than LENZ Therapeutics.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for LENZ Therapeutics and CG Oncology, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LENZ Therapeutics	0	0	6	1	3.14
CG Oncology	0	0	8	1	3.11

LENZ Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $35.40, indicating a potential upside of 14.30%. CG Oncology has a consensus price target of $63.88, indicating a potential upside of 122.10%. Given CG Oncology’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CG Oncology is more favorable than LENZ Therapeutics.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

54.3% of LENZ Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of CG Oncology shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.4% of LENZ Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CG Oncology beats LENZ Therapeutics on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LENZ Therapeutics

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to improve vision in the United States. Its product candidates include LNZ100 and LNZ101 which are in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of presbyopia. The company is headquartered in Del Mar, California.

About CG Oncology

CG Oncology, Inc., an oncolytic immunotherapy company, focuses on developing and commercializing backbone bladder-sparing therapeutics for patients with bladder cancer. The company develops BOND-003 for the treatment of high-risk bacillus calmette guerin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients; CORE-001 to treat cretostimogene in combination with pembrolizumab in high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC patients; and CORE-002 for the treatment of cretostimogene in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab in muscle invasive bladder cancer patients. It also develops PIVOT-006, a cretostimogene monotherapy for intermediate-risk NMIBC following transurethral resection of the bladder tumor; and CORE-008 for treating patients with high-risk NMIBC, including BCG-exposed and BCG-naïve NMIBC patients. CG Oncology, Inc. was formerly known as Cold Genesys, Inc. and changed its name to CG Oncology, Inc. in June 2020. The company was founded in 2010 and is based in Irvine, California.