Starpharma (OTCMKTS:SPHRY) and Zymergen (NASDAQ:ZY) Head to Head Survey

Zymergen (NASDAQ:ZY – Get Rating) and Starpharma (OTCMKTS:SPHRY – Get Rating) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.8% of Zymergen shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Zymergen and Starpharma, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zymergen	3	5	0	0	1.63
Starpharma	0	0	0	0	N/A

Zymergen currently has a consensus price target of $6.75, indicating a potential upside of 219.91%. Given Zymergen’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Zymergen is more favorable than Starpharma.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zymergen and Starpharma’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zymergen	$16.74 million	13.00	-$361.79 million	($9.53)	-0.22
Starpharma	$1.61 million	158.16	-$14.74 million	N/A	N/A

Starpharma has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Zymergen.

Profitability

This table compares Zymergen and Starpharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zymergen	-2,160.81%	-213.99%	-64.50%
Starpharma	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Starpharma beats Zymergen on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

Zymergen Company Profile (Get Rating)

Zymergen Inc. design, develop, and commercialize microbes, molecules, and materials. It offers an automation solution comprising reconfigurable automation carts, a modular hardware building blocks that allow for assembly of work cells customized for the particular needs of a lab; and automation control software, a cloud-based software used to control integrated automation systems. It serves electronics, packaging, healthcare, agriculture, and other industries. Zymergen Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Emeryville, California.

Starpharma Company Profile (Get Rating)

Starpharma Holdings Limited, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of dendrimer products for pharmaceutical, life-science, and other applications worldwide. The company offers VivaGel, a non-antibiotic therapy for the management and prevention of bacterial vaginosis. It also develops VivaGel condom, an antiviral condom; and VIRALEZE, an antiviral nasal spray. In addition, the company develops DEP, a dendrimer drug delivery technology, including DEP docetaxel that is in Phase II clinical trials, DEP cabazitaxel that is in Phase II clinical trial, and DEP irinotecan that is in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of cancer; oncology programs, such as DEP radiopharmaceuticals, DEP HER-2 ADC, and DEP gemcitabine; DEP non-oncology candidates; and DEP AZD0466, which is in Phase I/II clinical trials to treat haematological tumours. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Abbotsford, Australia.