Financial Analysis: Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) versus Nabriva Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NBRV)

Cassava Sciences (NASDAQ:SAVA) and Nabriva Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NBRV) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cassava Sciences and Nabriva Therapeutics’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cassava Sciences	N/A	N/A	-$97.22 million	($2.32)	-9.13
Nabriva Therapeutics	$35.59 million	0.00	-$57.19 million	($19.20)	N/A

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

38.1% of Cassava Sciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Nabriva Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Cassava Sciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Nabriva Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Cassava Sciences and Nabriva Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cassava Sciences	N/A	-57.53%	-52.58%
Nabriva Therapeutics	-148.11%	-365.53%	-135.81%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Cassava Sciences and Nabriva Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cassava Sciences	0	0	1	0	3.00
Nabriva Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	N/A

Cassava Sciences presently has a consensus target price of $124.00, suggesting a potential upside of 485.18%.

Volatility and Risk

Cassava Sciences has a beta of -0.45, suggesting that its stock price is 145% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nabriva Therapeutics has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cassava Sciences beats Nabriva Therapeutics on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cassava Sciences

Cassava Sciences, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, develops drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead therapeutic product candidate is simufilam, a small molecule drug, which is completed Phase 2 clinical trial; and investigational diagnostic product candidate is SavaDx, a blood-based biomarker/diagnostic to detect Alzheimer's disease. The company was formerly known as Pain Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Cassava Sciences, Inc. in March 2019. Cassava Sciences, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Austin, Texas.

About Nabriva Therapeutics

Nabriva Therapeutics plc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of novel anti-infective agents to treat serious infections. The company's product includes SIVEXTRO, an oxazolidinone-class antibacterial for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection (ABSSSI); and XENLETA, a semi-synthetic pleuromutilin antibiotic for oral and IV administration. It also develops XENLETA that is in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of pediatric infections, as well as sexually transmitted infections, cystic fibrosis, ABSSSI, ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, complicated intra-abdominal infections, hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia, acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, osteomyelitis, and prosthetic joint infections. In addition, the company develops CONTEPO, an epoxide antibiotic for use in treating complicated urinary tract infections, as well as is in Phase I clinical trial for peri-operative prophylaxis. The company was formerly known as Nabriva Therapeutics Forschungs GmbH and changed its name to Nabriva Therapeutics plc in 2007. Nabriva Therapeutics plc was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.