Head-To-Head Analysis: SCYNEXIS (NASDAQ:SCYX) and KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) and SCYNEXIS (NASDAQ:SCYX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares KalVista Pharmaceuticals and SCYNEXIS”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KalVista Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$183.44 million	($3.95)	-3.79
SCYNEXIS	$3.75 million	8.51	-$21.29 million	($0.51)	-1.49

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

Volatility and Risk

KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a beta of -0.19, meaning that its stock price is 119% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SCYNEXIS has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares KalVista Pharmaceuticals and SCYNEXIS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KalVista Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-214.88%	-81.87%
SCYNEXIS	-862.89%	-60.54%	-41.77%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.4% of SCYNEXIS shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of KalVista Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.9% of SCYNEXIS shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for KalVista Pharmaceuticals and SCYNEXIS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KalVista Pharmaceuticals	1	0	7	0	2.75
SCYNEXIS	1	0	1	0	2.00

KalVista Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $29.40, indicating a potential upside of 96.13%. SCYNEXIS has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 294.74%. Given SCYNEXIS’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SCYNEXIS is more favorable than KalVista Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

SCYNEXIS beats KalVista Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KalVista Pharmaceuticals

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drug therapies inhibitors for diseases with unmet needs. The company’s product candidate is Sebetralstat, a small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitor targeting the disease of hereditary angioedema (HAE). It develops Factor XIIa, an oral inhibitor for the treatment of HAE which is in preclinical trial. In addition, the company is developing an orally disintegrating tablet formulation, including KONFIDENT-KID for pediatric use with HAE; KONFIDENT-S for adolescent and adult patients with type I or type II HAE; and KONFIDENT for a potential oral therapy for HAE attacks. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About SCYNEXIS

SCYNEXIS, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops medicines to overcome and prevent difficult-to-treat and drug-resistant infections in the United States. It offers BREXAFEMME for the treatment of patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and recurrent VVC. The company's lead product candidate is Ibrexafungerp, an intravenous drug for the treatment of invasive candidiasis and/or candidemia, refractory invasive fungal infections, invasive aspergillosis, VVC, and recurrent VVC. It also develops SCY-247 to treat systemic fungal diseases. The company has licensing and collaboration agreements with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 3) Limited, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Hansoh (Shanghai) Health Technology Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Company Limited, and R-Pharm, CJSC for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of ibrexafungerp. SCYNEXIS, Inc. was formerly known as SCYNEXIS Chemistry & Automation, Inc. and changed its name to SCYNEXIS, Inc. in June 2002. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.