Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CDTX) versus Vitro Diagnostics (OTCMKTS:VODG) Financial Contrast

Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CDTX) and Vitro Diagnostics (OTCMKTS:VODG) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Cidara Therapeutics and Vitro Diagnostics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cidara Therapeutics	0	0	3	1	3.25
Vitro Diagnostics	0	0	0	0	N/A

Cidara Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $61.67, suggesting a potential upside of 422.16%. Given Cidara Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cidara Therapeutics is more favorable than Vitro Diagnostics.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Vitro Diagnostics’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cidara Therapeutics	$46.26 million	1.16	-$22.93 million	($7.68)	-1.54
Vitro Diagnostics	$1.76 million	N/A	-$5.36 million	($2.36)	-0.17

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

Profitability

This table compares Cidara Therapeutics and Vitro Diagnostics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cidara Therapeutics	-73.46%	-201.62%	-54.25%
Vitro Diagnostics	-495.26%	N/A	-130.81%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.8% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of Cidara Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.7% of Vitro Diagnostics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Cidara Therapeutics beats Vitro Diagnostics on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cidara Therapeutics

Cidara Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on developing targeted therapies for patients facing cancers and other serious diseases. The company's product includes 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 develops its Cloudbreak platform that enables development of novel drug-Fc conjugates, that includes CD388, a potent antiviral designed to deliver universal prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza, which is in Phase 1 and Phase 2a clinical trials. 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 Vitro Diagnostics

Vitro Diagnostics, Inc., doing business as Vitro Biopharma, focuses on the development, manufacture, and distribution of stem cell products and related tools for use in research, drug discovery, and clinical trials in the United States. Its stem cell technology includes cell lines, supporting products, and methods for generation and differentiation of stem cells into products for the treatment of diseases, such as heart disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, autism, stroke, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's diseases. The company also offers Tools for Stem Cell and Drug Discovery that provide researchers basic tools needed to advance stem cell technology, including stem cells and their derivatives; media for growth and differentiation of stem cells; and tools for measurement of stem cell quality, potency, and response to toxic agents. In addition, it offers MSC-Gro, a cell culture media product; MSC cell line for the treatment of skeletal muscular conditions, such as tendonitis, ligament injury, osteoarthritis and accelerated bone fracture healing, etc.; and testing and therapies related to endogenous stem cell activation. Further, the company provides diagnostic testing of stem cell activation and determination of stem cell functional status; and cell-based assays for discovery of novel stem cell activation agents and drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis. Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is based in Golden, Colorado.