Head to Head Survey: Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) and Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSE:PLX)

Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) and Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSE:PLX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Atara Biotherapeutics and Protalix BioTherapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atara Biotherapeutics	-132.58%	N/A	-90.16%
Protalix BioTherapeutics	-21.03%	-30.89%	-11.74%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Atara Biotherapeutics and Protalix BioTherapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atara Biotherapeutics	1	1	2	0	2.25
Protalix BioTherapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Atara Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $16.67, suggesting a potential upside of 36.89%. Given Atara Biotherapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Atara Biotherapeutics is more favorable than Protalix BioTherapeutics.

Risk and Volatility

Atara Biotherapeutics has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Protalix BioTherapeutics has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.9% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.5% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of Atara Biotherapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Atara Biotherapeutics and Protalix BioTherapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atara Biotherapeutics	$8.57 million	8.18	-$276.13 million	($25.78)	-0.47
Protalix BioTherapeutics	$65.49 million	1.93	$8.31 million	($0.13)	-13.23

Protalix BioTherapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Atara Biotherapeutics. Protalix BioTherapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atara Biotherapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Atara Biotherapeutics

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. engages in the development of transformative therapies for patients with solid tumors, hematologic cancers, and autoimmune diseases in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its lead product includes Tab-cel (tabelecleucel), a T-cell immunotherapy program that is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of epstein-barr virus (EBV) driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, as well as nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Its CAR T immunotherapy pipeline products include ATA3219, currently in Phase 1 trials, as well as ATA3431, under preclinical trials for the treatment of B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases; and ATA188 that is in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat multiple sclerosis. The company has research collaboration agreements with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Council of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.

About Protalix BioTherapeutics

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development, production, and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins based on its proprietary ProCellEx plant cell-based protein expression system in the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, and internationally. The company offers Elelyso for the treatment of Gaucher disease; and Elfabrio for the treatment of adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease. It is also developing PRX-115, a plant cell-expressed recombinant PEGylated Uricase which is in Phase I trial for the treatment of gout; and PRX-119, a plant cell-expressed PEGylated recombinant human DNase I product candidate that is in preclinical phase for the treatment of NETs-related diseases. The company has agreements and partnerships with Pfizer; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; and Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Karmiel, Israel. Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Protalix Ltd.