Comparing Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) and Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX)

Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Scilex and Atyr PHARMA, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scilex	0	0	2	0	3.00
Atyr PHARMA	0	0	4	0	3.00

Scilex presently has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,170.97%. Atyr PHARMA has a consensus target price of $19.25, indicating a potential upside of 759.38%. Given Scilex’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Scilex is more favorable than Atyr PHARMA.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.7% of Scilex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.7% of Atyr PHARMA shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Scilex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Atyr PHARMA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Scilex has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atyr PHARMA has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Scilex and Atyr PHARMA’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scilex	-233.88%	N/A	-111.82%
Atyr PHARMA	N/A	-65.35%	-49.81%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Scilex and Atyr PHARMA”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scilex	$46.74 million	3.23	-$114.33 million	($1.43)	-0.55
Atyr PHARMA	$588,000.00	262.90	-$50.39 million	($0.90)	-2.49

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

Summary

Atyr PHARMA beats Scilex on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scilex

Scilex Holding Company focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Its commercial products include ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% (ZTlido), a prescription lidocaine topical product for the relief of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain; ELYXYB, a ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults; and GLOPERBA, a liquid oral version of the anti-gout medicine colchicine indicated for the prophylaxis of painful gout flares in adults. The company is also developing three product candidates, including SP-102 (10 mg dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA), a novel viscous gel formulation of a used corticosteroid for epidural injections, which has completed a Phase 3 study to treat lumbosacral radicular pain or sciatica; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4% (SP-103), a formulation of ZTlido for the treatment of chronic neck pain and low back pain (LBP) that has completed a Phase 2 trial; and SP-104 (4.5 mg low-dose naltrexone hydrochloride delayed-release capsules) (SP-104), a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride, which has completed Phase 1 trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

About Atyr PHARMA

aTyr Pharma, Inc., a biotherapeutics company, engages in the discovery and development of medicines based on novel immunological pathways in the United States. Its lead therapeutic candidate is efzofitimod, a selective modulator of NRP2 that is in Phase III clinical trial for pulmonary sarcoidosis; and in Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for treatment of other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), such as chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and connective tissue disease related ILD. The company is developing ATYR0101, a fusion protein derived from a domain of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase that is in preclinical development for the treatment of fibrosis; and ATYR0750, a domain of alanyl-tRNA synthetase for the treatment of liver disorders. It has collaboration and license agreement with Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of efzofitimod for ILDs in Japan. aTyr Pharma, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.