Analyzing CervoMed (NASDAQ:CRVO) and Rafael (NYSE:RFL)

Rafael (NYSE:RFL) and CervoMed (NASDAQ:CRVO) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Rafael has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CervoMed has a beta of -0.75, indicating that its share price is 175% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Rafael and CervoMed”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rafael	$920,000.00	73.20	-$30.52 million	($0.68)	-1.90
CervoMed	$4.01 million	8.71	-$26.97 million	($3.22)	-0.72

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Rafael and CervoMed, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rafael	1	0	0	0	1.00
CervoMed	1	1	4	1	2.71

CervoMed has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 809.09%. Given CervoMed’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CervoMed is more favorable than Rafael.

Profitability

This table compares Rafael and CervoMed’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rafael	-3,321.74%	-41.27%	-35.32%
CervoMed	N/A	-156.02%	-128.34%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

11.3% of Rafael shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.2% of CervoMed shares are held by institutional investors. 32.9% of Rafael shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 35.8% of CervoMed shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CervoMed beats Rafael on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rafael

Rafael Holdings, Inc. primarily engages in holding interests in clinical and early-stage pharmaceutical companies, and commercial real estate assets in the United States and Israel. It operates in two segments, Healthcare and Real Estate. The company engages in the development and commercialization of therapies that exploit the metabolic differences between normal cells and cancer cells. Its lead drug candidate is CPI-613 (devimistat), currently under Phase III clinical study for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer and acute myeloid leukemia. The company is also involved in developing Promitil, a molecule designed for the targeted delivery of mitomycin-C in a proprietary prodrug form, completed Phase 1B clinical studies; Folate-targeted Promitil (Promi-Fol) which is aimed at local treatment (intravesical) of superficial bladder cancer; and Promi-Dox, a highly potent dual drug liposome with MLP and doxorubicin targeting a potential basket of tumors. In addition, it engages in the development of surgical and procedural devices, including orthopedic arthroscopy instrumentation. Rafael Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.

About CervoMed

CervoMed Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of treatments for age-related neurologic disorders. Its lead drug candidate is neflamapimod, an orally administered small molecule brain penetrant for the treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Alzheimer's diseases, frontotemporal dementia, and ischemic stroke recovery. The company also develops EIP200 for central nervous system which is in preclinical trials. CervoMed Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.