Contrasting Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) and Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CDTX)

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

Volatility & Risk

Cidara Therapeutics has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Humacyte has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Humacyte’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cidara Therapeutics	-33.19%	-201.62%	-30.28%
Humacyte	N/A	-199.62%	-61.45%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Humacyte’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cidara Therapeutics	$63.91 million	0.90	-$22.93 million	($4.80)	-2.63
Humacyte	$1.57 million	342.83	-$110.78 million	($1.07)	-4.22

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Cidara Therapeutics and Humacyte, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cidara Therapeutics	0	0	3	1	3.25
Humacyte	0	1	3	0	2.75

Cidara Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $71.25, suggesting a potential upside of 465.48%. Humacyte has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 76.99%. Given Cidara Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cidara Therapeutics is more favorable than Humacyte.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.8% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.7% of Humacyte shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Humacyte shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Cidara Therapeutics

Cidara Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of long-acting anti-infectives for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and oncology in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is 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 advances its Cloudbreak platform to develop conjugates for the prevention and treatment of influenza and other viral infections, such as RSV, HIV, and the SARS-CoV-2 strains causing COVID-19. 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 Humacyte

Humacyte, Inc. engages in the development and manufacture of off-the-shelf, implantable, and bioengineered human tissues for the treatment of diseases and conditions across a range of anatomic locations in multiple therapeutic areas. The company using its proprietary and scientific technology platform to engineer and manufacture human acellular vessels (HAVs) to be implanted into patient without inducing a foreign body response or leading to immune rejection. It is developing a portfolio of HAVs, which would target the vascular repair, reconstruction, and replacement market, including vascular trauma; arteriovenous access for hemodialysis; peripheral arterial disease; pediatric heart surgery; and coronary artery bypass grafting, as well as for the delivery of cellular therapy, including pancreatic islet cell transplantation to treat Type 1 diabetes. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.