Which Is a Better Investment, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. Stock?

By Omar Beirat
June 18, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Biotechnology industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., a precision medicine oncology company, develops targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using molecular diagnostics in the United States. The company offers Darovasertib, an oral, potent, and selective protein kinase, C (PKC) inhibitor for the treatment of uveal melanoma, ocular cancer, and is being evaluated in multiple clinical trials as monotherapy and in combination with crizotinib for metastatic, neoadjuvant, and adjuvant settings. The company also offers IDE849, a DLL3 antibody drug conjugate inhibitor for the treatment of SCLC and neuroendocrine carcinomas; IDE034, a B7H3/PTK7 topo-I-payload bispecific BsADC; IDE161, a poly ADP-ribose glycohydrolase inhibitor; IDE705 (GSK101), a Poly Theta Helicase inhibitor that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of tumors with BRCA or other mutations associated with HRD; IDE397, a MAT2A inhibitor for MTAP-deleted tumors; IDE892, a PRMT5 inhibitor; IDE574 selectively inhibits KAT6/7 and is in Phase 1 dose escalation trial for patients with breast, lung, prostate, and colorectal cancers; IDE275 oral small molecule inhibitor of the helicase domain of the Werner protein (WRN) and is in a Phase 1 clinical trial. In addition, the company offers preclinical research programs focused on pharmacological inhibition; DECIPHER dual CRISPR library for synthetic lethality target and biomarker discovery; and INQUIRE chemical library and HARMONY machine-learning engines to enhance its drug discovery platform. The company has strategic alliances with GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc., Gilead Sciences, Inc., Novartis, Biocytogen, Cancer Research UK, the University of Manchester, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Les Laboratoires Servie. It also has a clinical collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca plc to evaluate IDE849, an antibody-drug conjugate; and clinical collaboration with Roche to evaluate IDE892, IDEAYA's potential best-in-class Phase 1 MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor, in combination with RG6505, Roche's Phase 1 pan-RAS inhibitor, in MTAP-deleted, RAS-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing medicines for patients living with rare diseases in the United States. It offers Firdapse for the treatment of patients with lambert-eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS); Fycompa, a novel non-competitive selective antagonist at the postsynaptic ionotropic alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid glutamate receptor that is used to treat focal onset seizures, as well as tonic-clonic seizure; and AGAMREE, a corticosteroid for the treatment of duchenne muscular dystrophy. The company has license agreements with BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.; and a collaboration and license agreement with Endo Ventures Limited for the development and commercialization of generic Sabril tablets. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Coral Gables, Florida.

Latest Biotechnology and IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Stock News

As of June 18, 2026, IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. had a $2.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Biotechnology median of $262.5 million. IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.’s stock is down 9.7% in 2026, up 8.3% in the previous five trading days and up 42.47% in the past year.

Currently, IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $225.3 million with a -62.2% net profit margin. As of June 18, 2026, IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. has not reported significant year-over-year quarterly sales. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-4.307 per share for the current fiscal year. IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of June 18, 2026, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. had a $3.8 billion market cap, putting it in the 63rd percentile of all stocks. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s stock is up 34.4% in 2026, NA 0% in the previous five trading days and up 35.14% in the past year.

Currently, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 18.1. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $597.0 million with a 37.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.174 per share for the current fiscal year. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. IDYA F
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CPRX D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. has a Value Score of 19, which is Ultra Expensive. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Value Score of 37, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. IDYA D
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CPRX A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. has a Quality Score of 39, which is Weak. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Quality Score of 84, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. IDYA C
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CPRX B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 59, which is Average. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 76, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc. Grades

In addition to Momentum, Quality and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals or Inc. Stock?

Overall, IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 19, Momentum Score of 59 and Quality Score of 39.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 37, Momentum Score of 76 and Quality Score of 84.

Comparing IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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