Critical Comparison: Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) & X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR)

X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) and Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Pluri’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X4 Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-236.19%	-75.14%
Pluri	-3,551.49%	-2,778.13%	-83.61%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

72.0% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.6% of Pluri shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Pluri shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

X4 Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pluri has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Pluri”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
X4 Pharmaceuticals	$2.56 million	13.26	-$101.17 million	($0.19)	-1.03
Pluri	$678,000.00	39.42	-$20.89 million	($5.60)	-0.68

Pluri has lower revenue, but higher earnings than X4 Pharmaceuticals. X4 Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pluri, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for X4 Pharmaceuticals and Pluri, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X4 Pharmaceuticals	0	0	3	0	3.00
Pluri	0	0	0	0	0.00

X4 Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $2.83, indicating a potential upside of 1,350.76%. Given X4 Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe X4 Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Pluri.

Summary

X4 Pharmaceuticals beats Pluri on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About X4 Pharmaceuticals

X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases. Its lead product candidate is mavorixafor, a small molecule inhibitor of the chemokine receptor C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients with warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis syndrome; and Phase II clinical trial to treat congenital, idiopathic, or cyclic neutropenia. The company is also developing X4P-003, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of CXCR4 dependent disorders and primary immunodeficiencies; and X4P-002, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of blood-brain barrier diseases. It has a license agreement with Abbisko Therapeutics Co Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize mavorixafor in combination with checkpoint inhibitors or other agents in oncology indications. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Pluri

Pluri Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development of placenta-based cell therapy product candidates for the treatment of inflammatory, muscle injuries, and hematologic conditions. It operates in the field of regenerative medicine, food-tech, and biologics and focuses on establishing partnerships that leverage its 3D cell-based technology to additional industries that require mass cell production. The company's development pipeline includes PLX-PAD, is composed of maternal mesenchymal stromal cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase III study for orthopedic, phase II study for COVID-19, and phase I/II clinical study for Steroid-Refractory cGVHD indications; and PLX-R18, is composed of fetal MSC like cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase I study for HCT and pilot study for ARS indications. It is also involved in the development of modified PLX cells. The company was formerly known as Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Pluri Inc. in July 2022. Pluri Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is based in Haifa, Israel.