Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) versus Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) Critical Survey

Cortexyme (NASDAQ:CRTX) and Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

63.2% of Cortexyme shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.5% of Agenus shares are owned by institutional investors. 27.9% of Cortexyme shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Agenus shares are owned 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 breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Cortexyme and Agenus, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cortexyme	0	0	0	0	0.00
Agenus	0	5	1	0	2.17

Agenus has a consensus price target of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 422.39%. Given Agenus’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Agenus is more favorable than Cortexyme.

Profitability

This table compares Cortexyme and Agenus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cortexyme	N/A	-70.96%	-63.53%
Agenus	-145.89%	N/A	-85.68%

Volatility and Risk

Cortexyme has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agenus has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cortexyme and Agenus”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cortexyme	N/A	N/A	-$89.94 million	($2.97)	-0.50
Agenus	$160.43 million	0.24	-$245.76 million	($11.24)	-0.15

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

Summary

Cortexyme beats Agenus on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cortexyme

Cortexyme, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapeutics for Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases. Its lead drug candidate is atuzaginstat (COR388), an orally administered brain-penetrating small molecule gingipain inhibitor, which is in Phase II/III clinical trial for use in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, as well as for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma, periodontitis, and coronavirus infection. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Agenus

Agenus Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies. It develops QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant. The company also develops Balstilimab, an anti-PD-1 antagonist that has completed Phase II clinical trial to treat second line cervical cancer; AGEN1181, an antigen 4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody that is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and and melanoma; AGEN2373, a CD137 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial; AGEN1423, a CD73/TGFß TRAP antibody; AGEN1571, an ILT2 monospecific antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial; and BMS-986442, a TIGIT bispecific antibodies. In addition, it develops INCAGN1876, a GITR agonist; INCAGN2390, a TIM-3 monospecific antibody; INCAGN2385, a LAG-3 monospecific antibody; MK-4830, a monospecific antibody targeting ILT4 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial; UGN-301, a zalifrelimab intravesical solution for the treatment of cancers of the urinary tract that is in a Phase 1 clinical trial; and AGEN1884, a first-generation anti-CTLA-4 monospecific antibody. The company operates under Agenus, MiNK, Prophage, Retrocyte Display, and Stimulon trademarks. It has collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Incyte Corporation, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. The company was formerly known as Antigenics Inc. and changed its name to Agenus Inc. in January 2011. Agenus Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.