Financial Analysis: Aravive (NASDAQ:ARAV) & Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRVS)

Aravive (NASDAQ:ARAV) and Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRVS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aravive and Corvus Pharmaceuticals’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aravive	$9.14 million	0.32	-$76.32 million	($0.96)	-0.04
Corvus Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$27.03 million	($0.52)	-3.50

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Aravive and Corvus Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aravive	0	4	0	0	2.00
Corvus Pharmaceuticals	0	1	2	0	2.67

Aravive currently has a consensus target price of $13.50, indicating a potential upside of 33,565.84%. Corvus Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $6.88, indicating a potential upside of 277.75%. Given Aravive’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aravive is more favorable than Corvus Pharmaceuticals.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.8% of Aravive shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.6% of Corvus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 60.4% of Aravive shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 31.3% of Corvus Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Aravive has a beta of 2.1, indicating that its stock price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corvus Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Aravive and Corvus Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aravive	-569.65%	N/A	-99.65%
Corvus Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-59.96%	-50.83%

Summary

Corvus Pharmaceuticals beats Aravive on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aravive

Aravive, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops transformative treatments for life-threatening diseases, including cancer and fibrosis in the United States. Its lead product candidate is batiraxcept, an ultrahigh-affinity, decoy protein that targets the GAS6-AXL signaling pathway, which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of platinum- resistant recurrent ovarian cancer; and in Phase Ib/II clinical trial for the treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The company also develops AVB-S6, a soluble Fc-fusion protein to block the activation of the GAS6-AXL signaling pathway. It has a license and collaboration agreement with WuXi Biologics (Hong Kong) Limited to identify and develop novel high-affinity bispecific antibodies targeting cancer and fibrosis; and license agreement with 3D Medicines Inc. to develop products that contain batiraxcept as the sole drug substance for the treatment of human oncological diseases in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. The company was formerly known as Versartis, Inc. and changed its name to Aravive, Inc. in October 2018. Aravive, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Corvus Pharmaceuticals

Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of immune modulator product candidates to treat solid cancers, T cell lymphomas, autoimmune, allergic, and infectious diseases. Its lead product candidate is soquelitinib (CPI-818), a selective covalent inhibitor of interleukin 2 inducible T cell kinase (ITK), which is in a multi-center Phase 1/1b clinical trial for the treatment of peripheral T cell lymphoma, solid tumors, and atopic dermatitis. The company is also developing ciforadenant (CPI-444), an oral small molecule antagonist of the A2A receptor that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer; and mupadolimab (CPI-006), a humanized monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer. In addition, it is developing CPI-182, an antibody designed to block inflammation and myeloid suppression that is in investigational new drug application-enabling studies, as well as CPI-935, an adenosine A2B receptor antagonist to prevent fibrosis. Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a license afreemnt with Monash University to research, develop, and commercialize certain antibodies directed to CXCR2 for the treatment of human diseases; and Vernalis (R&D) Limited to develop, manufacture, and commercialize products containing certain adenosine receptor antagonists, including ciforadenant, as well as strategic collaboration with Angel Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. for the development and commercialization of mupadolimab. Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Burlingame, California.