Financial Survey: Cocrystal Pharma (NASDAQ:COCP) and Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA)

Cocrystal Pharma (NASDAQ:COCP) and Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Cocrystal Pharma has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zevra Therapeutics has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cocrystal Pharma and Zevra Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cocrystal Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$8.83 million	($0.73)	-1.45
Zevra Therapeutics	$106.47 million	6.45	$83.23 million	$1.99	5.81

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.7% of Cocrystal Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.0% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 39.4% of Cocrystal Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Cocrystal Pharma and Zevra Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cocrystal Pharma	1	0	0	0	1.00
Zevra Therapeutics	0	2	9	0	2.82

Zevra Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $27.14, indicating a potential upside of 134.80%. Given Zevra Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zevra Therapeutics is more favorable than Cocrystal Pharma.

Profitability

This table compares Cocrystal Pharma and Zevra Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cocrystal Pharma	N/A	-150.61%	-97.86%
Zevra Therapeutics	42.82%	54.54%	34.15%

Summary

Zevra Therapeutics beats Cocrystal Pharma on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cocrystal Pharma

Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development of antiviral therapeutic treatments for serious and/or chronic viral diseases. It employs structure-based technologies to create antiviral drugs primarily to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV), influenza virus, coronavirus, norovirus, and respiratory virus infections. The company develops CC-31244, a HCV non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor that has completed Phase II a clinical trial to treat HCV infection; and CC-42344, a PB2 inhibitor that has completed Phase I clinical trial for treating influenza infection. It is also involved in identifying and developing non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors for norovirus infections. Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. has a license and research collaboration agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. to discover and develop proprietary influenza A/B antiviral agents; and a license agreement with Kansas State University Research Foundation to develop antiviral compounds for the treatment of norovirus and coronavirus infections. The company is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.

About Zevra Therapeutics

Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. discovers and develops various proprietary prodrugs to treat serious medical conditions in the United States. The company develops its products through Ligand Activated Therapy platform. Its lead product candidate is KP1077, consisting of KP1077IH, which is under Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, and KP1077N, which is under Phase ½ clinical trial to treat narcolepsy. The company is also developing Celiprolol, a prodrug product candidate that is under Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of vascular Ehlers Danlos syndrome. In addition, it offers AZSTARYS, a once-daily treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in patients aged six years and older; OLPRUVA to treat urea cycle disorders; and Arimoclomol for the treatment of niemann pick disease type C, an ultra-rare neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder. The company has collaboration and license agreement with Commave Therapeutics SA to develop, manufacture and commercialize the company’s product candidates containing SDX and d-methylphenidate; and license agreement with Acer and Relief Therapeutics, Inc. to develop and commercialize rights for OLPRUVA. The company was formerly known as KemPharm, Inc. and changed its name to Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2023. Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Celebration, Florida.