Contrasting Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CDTX) and Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD)

Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CDTX) and Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Cidara Therapeutics has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kodiak Sciences has a beta of 2.11, meaning that its stock price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Kodiak Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cidara Therapeutics	-289.05%	-69.64%	-33.73%
Kodiak Sciences	N/A	-84.52%	-45.40%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.8% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Kodiak Sciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 45.3% of Kodiak Sciences shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Cidara Therapeutics and Kodiak Sciences, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cidara Therapeutics	0	0	5	1	3.17
Kodiak Sciences	1	2	1	0	2.00

Cidara Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $32.20, indicating a potential upside of 48.39%. Kodiak Sciences has a consensus target price of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.58%. Given Cidara Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cidara Therapeutics is more favorable than Kodiak Sciences.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Kodiak Sciences”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cidara Therapeutics	$63.90 million	2.39	-$22.93 million	($25.52)	-0.85
Kodiak Sciences	N/A	N/A	-$260.49 million	($3.65)	-1.96

Cidara Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Kodiak Sciences. Kodiak Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cidara Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Cidara Therapeutics beats Kodiak Sciences on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cidara Therapeutics

Cidara Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on developing targeted therapies for patients facing cancers and other serious diseases. The company's product includes rezafungin acetate, a novel molecule in the echinocandin class of antifungals for the treatment and prevention of invasive fungal infections, including candidemia and invasive candidiasis, which are fungal infections associated with high mortality rates. It also develops its Cloudbreak platform that enables development of novel drug-Fc conjugates, that includes CD388, a potent antiviral designed to deliver universal prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza, which is in Phase 1 and Phase 2a clinical trials. The company was formerly known as K2 Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. in July 2014. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in San Diego, California.

About Kodiak Sciences

Kodiak Sciences Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes therapeutics to treat retinal diseases. Its lead product candidate is tarcocimab tedromer (KSI-301), an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody biopolymer that is in Phase IIb/III clinical study to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as Phase III clinical study for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, naïve macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion, and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The company's preclinical stage product candidate includes KSI-501, a bispecific conjugate to treat retinal diseases with an inflammatory component; and KSI-601, a triplet biopolymer conjugate for the treatment of dry AMD. The company was formerly known as Oligasis, LLC and changed its name to Kodiak Sciences Inc. in September 2015. Kodiak Sciences Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Palo Alto, California.