Reviewing Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) & Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD)

Vireo Growth (OTCMKTS:VREOD) and Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Vireo Growth and Zevra Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vireo Growth	1	0	0	0	1.00
Zevra Therapeutics	0	1	9	1	3.00

Zevra Therapeutics has a consensus target price of $27.14, suggesting a potential upside of 166.63%. Given Zevra Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Zevra Therapeutics is more favorable than Vireo Growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.0% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Vireo Growth shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Zevra Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vireo Growth and Zevra Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vireo Growth	-23.37%	-19.76%	-7.15%
Zevra Therapeutics	42.82%	54.54%	34.15%

Volatility & Risk

Vireo Growth has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zevra Therapeutics has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vireo Growth and Zevra Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vireo Growth	$268.77 million	1.68	-$68.11 million	($3.30)	-3.02
Zevra Therapeutics	$106.47 million	5.68	$83.23 million	$0.92	11.07

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

Summary

Zevra Therapeutics beats Vireo Growth on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vireo Growth

Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. operates as a cannabis company in the United States. The company cultivates, processes, and distributes medical and adult-use cannabis products. It sells cannabis products through its network of Green Goods and other Goodness Growth branded retail dispensaries and third-party dispensaries in Maryland, Minnesota, and New York. The company was formerly known as Vireo Health International Inc. and changed its name to Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. in June 2021. Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Zevra Therapeutics

Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. discovers and develops various proprietary prodrugs to treat serious medical conditions in the United States. The company develops its products through Ligand Activated Therapy platform. Its lead product candidate is KP1077, consisting of KP1077IH, which is under Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, and KP1077N, which is under Phase ½ clinical trial to treat narcolepsy. The company is also developing Celiprolol, a prodrug product candidate that is under Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of vascular Ehlers Danlos syndrome. In addition, it offers AZSTARYS, a once-daily treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in patients aged six years and older; OLPRUVA to treat urea cycle disorders; and Arimoclomol for the treatment of niemann pick disease type C, an ultra-rare neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder. The company has collaboration and license agreement with Commave Therapeutics SA to develop, manufacture and commercialize the company’s product candidates containing SDX and d-methylphenidate; and license agreement with Acer and Relief Therapeutics, Inc. to develop and commercialize rights for OLPRUVA. The company was formerly known as KemPharm, Inc. and changed its name to Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2023. Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Celebration, Florida.