Qualigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QLGN) vs. Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) Head to Head Review

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) and Qualigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QLGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Verrica Pharmaceuticals and Qualigen Therapeutics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	$35.58 million	2.68	-$17.89 million	($1.03)	-5.40
Qualigen Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$6.26 million	($7.50)	-0.13

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

Volatility and Risk

Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qualigen Therapeutics has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its share price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Verrica Pharmaceuticals and Qualigen Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	-47.97%	-1,077.78%	-40.76%
Qualigen Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-202.16%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

42.5% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.2% of Qualigen Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 54.0% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Qualigen Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Verrica Pharmaceuticals and Qualigen Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Verrica Pharmaceuticals	1	1	2	0	2.25
Qualigen Therapeutics	1	0	0	0	1.00

Verrica Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 160.79%. Given Verrica Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Verrica Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Qualigen Therapeutics.

Summary

Verrica Pharmaceuticals beats Qualigen Therapeutics on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts. The company also develops VP-315, an oncolytic peptide-based injectable therapy, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of dermatology oncologic conditions which includes basal cell carcinoma; and VP-103, a cantharidin-based product candidate for the treatment of plantar warts and is in phase II clinical trial. In addition, it offers YCANTH for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum. The company has a collaboration and license agreement with Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of its product candidates for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum and common warts in Japan, including VP-102; and a license agreement with Lytix Biopharma AS to develop and commercialize VP-315 for dermatological oncology indications, such as non-metastatic melanoma and non-metastatic merkel cell carcinoma. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

About Qualigen Therapeutics

Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. It offers FastPack, a patent-protected rapid, onsite immunoassay testing system. The company is developing QN-302 for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; QN-247, an oligonucleotide-based drug candidate to treat various nucleolin-expressing cancers, including liquid and solid tumors; QN-165, a drug candidate for the potential broad-spectrum treatment of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19; RAS-F, a small-molecule RAS oncogene protein-protein inhibitor that blocks RAS mutations and inhibits tumor formation; and selective target antigen removal system, a therapeutic device to remove circulating tumor cells, viruses, inflammation factors, and immune checkpoints. Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is based in Carlsbad, California.