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

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Exicure and Reneo Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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

Reneo Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price 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.

Profitability

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

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

Earnings & Valuation

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

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

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.

Volatility & Risk

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

Summary

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

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.

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.