Head to Head Analysis: Cortex Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:RSPI) & Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK)

Cortex Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:RSPI) and Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Cortex Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stoke Therapeutics has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cortex Pharmaceuticals and Stoke Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cortex Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$2.10 million	($0.02)	-0.09
Stoke Therapeutics	$36.56 million	50.24	-$88.98 million	$0.67	47.99

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Cortex Pharmaceuticals and Stoke Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cortex Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00
Stoke Therapeutics	0	2	6	2	3.00

Stoke Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $34.78, suggesting a potential upside of 8.16%. Given Stoke Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Stoke Therapeutics is more favorable than Cortex Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Cortex Pharmaceuticals and Stoke Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cortex Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A
Stoke Therapeutics	19.73%	13.28%	11.40%

Summary

Stoke Therapeutics beats Cortex Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cortex Pharmaceuticals

RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. It has two drug platforms comprising ResolutionRx, a pharmaceutical cannabinoids platform, which includes dronabinol that acts upon the CB1 and CB2 endocannabinoid receptors for use in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, as well as for anorexia in patients with AIDS and obstructive sleep apnea; and EndeavourRx, a neuromodulators platform that comprises AMPAkines program, including proprietary compounds that are positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of glutamate receptors to promote neuronal function, and GABAkines program, including proprietary compounds that are PAMs of GABAA receptors. The company’s lead ampakine, CX1739, which has completed Phase II clinical studies for opioid-induced respiratory depression, as well as for central sleep apnea. It is also developing CX717, CX1739, and CX1942 that have clinical application in the treatment of CNS-driven neurobehavioral and cognitive disorders, spinal cord injury, neurological diseases, and various orphan indications. It has a research collaboration with University College London to the use of AMPAkines for the treatment of GRIA disorders. The company was formerly known as Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. in December 2015. RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Glen Rock, New Jersey.

About Stoke Therapeutics

Stoke Therapeutics, Inc., an early-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to treat the underlying causes of severe genetic diseases in the United States. The company utilizes its proprietary targeted augmentation of nuclear gene output to develop antisense oligonucleotides to selectively restore protein levels. Its lead clinical candidate is STK-002, which is in preclinical stage for the treatment of autosomal dominant optic atrophy. The company also develops STK-001, which is in phase I/II clinical trial to treat Dravet syndrome; and programs focused on multiple targets, including haploinsufficiency diseases of the central nervous system and eye. The company has a license and collaboration agreement with Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel RNA-based medicines for the treatment of severe and rare genetic neurodevelopmental diseases of the central nervous system. The company was formerly known as ASOthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. in May 2016. Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.