Reviewing Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) & PolyPid (NASDAQ:PYPD)

PolyPid (NASDAQ:PYPD) and Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for PolyPid and Co-Diagnostics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PolyPid	0	0	1	0	3.00
Co-Diagnostics	0	1	0	0	2.00

Co-Diagnostics has a consensus target price of $2.50, suggesting a potential upside of 125.23%. Given Co-Diagnostics’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Co-Diagnostics is more favorable than PolyPid.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.5% of PolyPid shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.0% of Co-Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. 24.7% of PolyPid shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Co-Diagnostics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

PolyPid has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Co-Diagnostics has a beta of -0.68, indicating that its stock price is 168% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares PolyPid and Co-Diagnostics’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PolyPid	N/A	N/A	-$23.86 million	($19.68)	-0.24
Co-Diagnostics	$6.81 million	5.10	-$35.33 million	($1.21)	-0.92

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

Profitability

This table compares PolyPid and Co-Diagnostics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PolyPid	N/A	-450.37%	-101.27%
Co-Diagnostics	-518.69%	-35.37%	-32.58%

Summary

PolyPid beats Co-Diagnostics on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PolyPid

PolyPid Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, developing targeted, locally administered, and prolonged-release therapeutics using its proprietary polymer-lipid encapsulation matrix (PLEX) technology to address unmet medical needs. Its lead product candidate is D-PLEX100, which is in a pivotal Phase 3 confirmatory trial for prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing abdominal colorectal surgery with large incisions. It is also developing OncoPLEX, for the treatment of intra-tumoral cancer. PolyPid Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel.

About Co-Diagnostics

Co-Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, develops, manufactures, and sells reagents used for diagnostic tests that function through the detection and/or analysis of nucleic acid molecules in the United States and internationally. The company offers Co-Dx PCR platform, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to patients in point-of-care and at-home setting. It also provides PCR diagnostic tests for COVID-19, influenza, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus, malaria, chikungunya, dengue, and the zika virus. In addition, the company offers three multiplexed tests to test mosquitos for the identification of diseases carried by the mosquitos; molecular tools for detection of infectious diseases, liquid biopsy for cancer screening, and agricultural applications; tests that identify genetic traits in plant and animal genomes; and portable diagnostic device designed to bring PCR to patients in point-of-care and at-home settings. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.