Analyzing Reneo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RPHM) and Exicure (NASDAQ:XCUR)

Reneo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RPHM) and Exicure (NASDAQ:XCUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Reneo Pharmaceuticals and Exicure”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Reneo Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$77.39 million	($2.17)	-0.69
Exicure	$500,000.00	73.19	-$16.91 million	($1.52)	-2.78

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.0% of Reneo Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of Exicure shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.9% of Reneo Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Exicure shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Reneo Pharmaceuticals and Exicure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Reneo Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-62.52%	-56.36%
Exicure	N/A	-288.02%	-71.17%

Volatility & Risk

Reneo Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.19, indicating that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exicure has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Reneo Pharmaceuticals and Exicure, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Reneo Pharmaceuticals	1	7	0	0	1.88
Exicure	0	0	0	0	N/A

Reneo Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $11.01, suggesting a potential upside of 634.17%. Given Reneo Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Reneo Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Exicure.

Summary

Reneo Pharmaceuticals beats Exicure on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Reneo Pharmaceuticals

Reneo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with rare genetic mitochondrial diseases. The company's lead product candidate is REN001, a potent and selective agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta that is in clinical development for genetic mitochondrial diseases comprising primary mitochondrial myopathies and long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders. Reneo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

About Exicure

Exicure, Inc., an early-stage biotechnology company, develops nucleic acid therapies targeting ribonucleic acid against validated targets. The company's preclinical candidate includes SCN9A that is in preclinical studies for the treatment of chronic pain. It also develops immuno-oncology therapeutics based on its proprietary SNA technology. Exicure, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.