Analyzing Biomea Fusion (NASDAQ:BMEA) and Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) and Biomea Fusion (NASDAQ:BMEA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biomea Fusion has a beta of -0.26, indicating that its stock price is 126% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Biomea Fusion’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-48.91%	-41.09%
Biomea Fusion	N/A	-118.90%	-93.66%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.7% of Biomea Fusion shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.6% of Biomea Fusion shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Biomea Fusion”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58 million	56.97	-$161.34 million	($3.47)	-0.42
Biomea Fusion	N/A	N/A	-$117.25 million	($4.01)	-0.57

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Pliant Therapeutics and Biomea Fusion, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pliant Therapeutics	0	12	0	0	2.00
Biomea Fusion	0	2	9	2	3.00

Pliant Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $13.31, indicating a potential upside of 805.61%. Biomea Fusion has a consensus price target of $24.64, indicating a potential upside of 971.15%. Given Biomea Fusion’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Biomea Fusion is more favorable than Pliant Therapeutics.

Summary

Pliant Therapeutics beats Biomea Fusion on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis. It also develops PLN-1474, an oral, small-molecule selective inhibitor of avß1 for the treatment of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; PLN-101095, a dual inhibitor of integrins avß8 and avß1 for the treatment of solid tumors; and PLN-101325 for treatment of muscular dystrophies. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in South San Francisco, California.

About Biomea Fusion

Biomea Fusion, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of covalent small molecule drugs to treat patients with genetically defined cancers and metabolic diseases. Its lead product candidate is BMF-219, a covalent inhibitor of menin for treating patients with liquid and solid tumors and type 2 diabetes. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.