Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) and Evoke Pharma (NASDAQ:EVOK) Critical Analysis

Evoke Pharma (NASDAQ:EVOK) and Geron (NASDAQ:GERN) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Evoke Pharma and Geron’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Evoke Pharma	-71.32%	-308.49%	-53.66%
Geron	-682.48%	-67.53%	-45.46%

Volatility and Risk

Evoke Pharma has a beta of 0.16, suggesting that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Geron has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

73.7% of Geron shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of Evoke Pharma shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Geron shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Evoke Pharma and Geron”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Evoke Pharma	$8.62 million	0.85	-$7.79 million	($10.99)	-0.45
Geron	$29.48 million	68.49	-$184.13 million	($0.32)	-10.44

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Evoke Pharma and Geron, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Evoke Pharma	0	0	0	0	0.00
Geron	0	1	8	2	3.09

Geron has a consensus price target of $7.15, suggesting a potential upside of 114.07%. Given Geron’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Geron is more favorable than Evoke Pharma.

Summary

Geron beats Evoke Pharma on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Evoke Pharma

Evoke Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, primarily focuses on the development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of gastroenterological disorders and diseases. It offers Gimoti, a metoclopramide nasal spray to treat symptoms associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis in adults. The company markets its products to gastroenterologists, internal medicine specialists, primary care physicians, and select health care providers. Evoke Pharma, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Solana Beach, California.

About Geron

Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for myeloid hematologic malignancies. It develops imetelstat, a telomerase inhibitor that is in Phase 3 clinical trials, which inhibits the uncontrolled proliferation of malignant stem and progenitor cells in myeloid hematologic malignancies for the treatment of low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes and intermediate-2 or high-risk myelofibrosis. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.