Head-To-Head Contrast: Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) versus CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON)

Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) and CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

48.5% of Gritstone bio shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.6% of CG Oncology shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Gritstone bio shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Gritstone bio and CG Oncology”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gritstone bio	$496,000.00	0.00	-$138.49 million	($1.24)	N/A
CG Oncology	$650,000.00	3,748.06	-$48.61 million	N/A	N/A

CG Oncology has higher revenue and earnings than Gritstone bio.

Profitability

This table compares Gritstone bio and CG Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gritstone bio	-910.50%	-328.51%	-82.53%
CG Oncology	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Gritstone bio and CG Oncology, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gritstone bio	0	3	0	1	2.50
CG Oncology	0	0	8	1	3.11

Gritstone bio currently has a consensus target price of $2.17, indicating a potential upside of ∞. CG Oncology has a consensus target price of $63.88, indicating a potential upside of 75.87%. Given Gritstone bio’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Gritstone bio is more favorable than CG Oncology.

Summary

CG Oncology beats Gritstone bio on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gritstone bio

Gritstone bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing vaccine-based immunotherapy candidates against cancer and infectious diseases. Its primary product candidate is GRANITE, an individualized immunotherapy candidate, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of microsatellite stable colorectal cancers; and has completed Phase 1/2 clinical trials for treating solid tumors. The company is also developing SLATE, an off-the-shelf immunotherapy candidate, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic solid tumors. In addition, it develops CORAL, a COVID-19 vaccine program; and a therapeutic vaccine candidate that is in Phase 1 clinical trials designed to treat and cure human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Gritstone bio, Inc. has a strategic collaboration with bluebird bio, Inc.; collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc.; and license agreement with Genevant Sciences GmbH. The company was formerly known as Gritstone Oncology, Inc. and changed its name to Gritstone bio, Inc. in May 2021. Gritstone bio, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

About CG Oncology

CG Oncology, Inc., an oncolytic immunotherapy company, focuses on developing and commercializing backbone bladder-sparing therapeutics for patients with bladder cancer. The company develops BOND-003 for the treatment of high-risk bacillus calmette guerin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients; CORE-001 to treat cretostimogene in combination with pembrolizumab in high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC patients; and CORE-002 for the treatment of cretostimogene in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab in muscle invasive bladder cancer patients. It also develops PIVOT-006, a cretostimogene monotherapy for intermediate-risk NMIBC following transurethral resection of the bladder tumor; and CORE-008 for treating patients with high-risk NMIBC, including BCG-exposed and BCG-naïve NMIBC patients. CG Oncology, Inc. was formerly known as Cold Genesys, Inc. and changed its name to CG Oncology, Inc. in June 2020. The company was founded in 2010 and is based in Irvine, California.