Financial Contrast: Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) and Quince Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QNCX)

Quince Therapeutics (NASDAQ:QNCX) and Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

30.8% of Quince Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.7% of Humacyte shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.0% of Quince Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.1% of Humacyte shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Quince Therapeutics and Humacyte’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quince Therapeutics	N/A	-36.36%	-28.83%
Humacyte	N/A	-199.62%	-61.45%

Volatility and Risk

Quince Therapeutics has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Humacyte has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Quince Therapeutics and Humacyte’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quince Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$31.39 million	($0.84)	-1.23
Humacyte	$1.57 million	292.01	-$110.78 million	($1.07)	-3.60

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Quince Therapeutics and Humacyte, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quince Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	N/A
Humacyte	0	1	3	0	2.75

Humacyte has a consensus price target of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 115.05%. Given Humacyte’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Humacyte is more favorable than Quince Therapeutics.

Summary

Humacyte beats Quince Therapeutics on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quince Therapeutics

Quince Therapeutics, Inc., a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company, develops precision therapeutics for debilitating and rare diseases. Its lead compound is NOV004, a systemically administered bone anabolic peptide engineered to target and concentrate at bone fracture sites. The company was formerly known as Cortexyme, Inc. and changed its name to Quince Therapeutics, Inc. in August 2022. Quince Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About Humacyte

Humacyte, Inc. engages in the development and manufacture of off-the-shelf, implantable, and bioengineered human tissues for the treatment of diseases and conditions across a range of anatomic locations in multiple therapeutic areas. The company using its proprietary and scientific technology platform to engineer and manufacture human acellular vessels (HAVs) to be implanted into patient without inducing a foreign body response or leading to immune rejection. It is developing a portfolio of HAVs, which would target the vascular repair, reconstruction, and replacement market, including vascular trauma; arteriovenous access for hemodialysis; peripheral arterial disease; pediatric heart surgery; and coronary artery bypass grafting, as well as for the delivery of cellular therapy, including pancreatic islet cell transplantation to treat Type 1 diabetes. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.