Contrasting Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) & SCYNEXIS (NASDAQ:SCYX)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zevra Therapeutics and SCYNEXIS”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zevra Therapeutics	$106.47 million	6.48	$83.23 million	$1.19	9.74
SCYNEXIS	$20.60 million	1.69	-$8.61 million	($1.44)	-2.43

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.0% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of SCYNEXIS shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of SCYNEXIS 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 Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Zevra Therapeutics and SCYNEXIS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zevra Therapeutics	0	1	9	1	3.00
SCYNEXIS	1	0	2	0	2.33

Zevra Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $27.14, indicating a potential upside of 134.19%. SCYNEXIS has a consensus price target of $33.00, indicating a potential upside of 842.86%. Given SCYNEXIS’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SCYNEXIS is more favorable than Zevra Therapeutics.

Profitability

This table compares Zevra Therapeutics and SCYNEXIS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zevra Therapeutics	52.80%	54.64%	37.84%
SCYNEXIS	N/A	-40.51%	-30.17%

Volatility & Risk

Zevra Therapeutics has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SCYNEXIS has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Zevra Therapeutics beats SCYNEXIS on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About SCYNEXIS

SCYNEXIS, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops medicines to overcome and prevent difficult-to-treat and drug-resistant infections in the United States. It offers BREXAFEMME for the treatment of patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and recurrent VVC. The company's lead product candidate is Ibrexafungerp, an intravenous drug for the treatment of invasive candidiasis and/or candidemia, refractory invasive fungal infections, invasive aspergillosis, VVC, and recurrent VVC. It also develops SCY-247 to treat systemic fungal diseases. The company has licensing and collaboration agreements with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 3) Limited, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Hansoh (Shanghai) Health Technology Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Company Limited, and R-Pharm, CJSC for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of ibrexafungerp. SCYNEXIS, Inc. was formerly known as SCYNEXIS Chemistry & Automation, Inc. and changed its name to SCYNEXIS, Inc. in June 2002. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.