Financial Review: Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT) versus Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA)

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) and Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Kura Oncology has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sagimet Biosciences has a beta of 3.43, suggesting that its share price is 243% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kura Oncology and Sagimet Biosciences”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kura Oncology	$77.22 million	8.72	-$278.67 million	($3.37)	-2.25
Sagimet Biosciences	$2.00 million	338.46	-$51.04 million	($1.28)	-8.51

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.9% of Sagimet Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Kura Oncology shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of Sagimet Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Kura Oncology and Sagimet Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kura Oncology	-384.30%	-207.18%	-45.17%
Sagimet Biosciences	N/A	-31.96%	-30.57%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Kura Oncology and Sagimet Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kura Oncology	1	1	11	0	2.77
Sagimet Biosciences	2	1	9	0	2.58

Kura Oncology currently has a consensus price target of $25.35, indicating a potential upside of 234.91%. Sagimet Biosciences has a consensus price target of $26.63, indicating a potential upside of 144.58%. Given Kura Oncology’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Kura Oncology is more favorable than Sagimet Biosciences.

Summary

Sagimet Biosciences beats Kura Oncology on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for cancer. Its research has centered on therapies that target molecular pathways involved in tumor growth and blood cancers. The company’s best-known program is ziftomenib, an oral menin inhibitor developed for acute myeloid leukemia, including forms associated with NPM1 mutations or KMT2A rearrangements. Kura has also worked on other targeted cancer therapies. Based in San Diego, California, Kura conducts drug development and clinical research in the United States and has worked with international partners to advance its programs.

About Sagimet Biosciences

Sagimet Biosciences Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing medicines that target fatty acid synthase (FASN), an enzyme involved in the body’s production of fatty acids. The company is based in San Mateo, California. Its lead drug candidate, denifanstat (also known as TVB-2640), is an oral FASN inhibitor being developed for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a serious liver disease. The candidate has also been studied for other conditions. Sagimet is also developing TVB-3567, another FASN inhibitor being investigated as a potential treatment for acne.