Financial Analysis: PainReform (NASDAQ:PRFX) and Unity Biotechnology (NASDAQ:UBX)

Unity Biotechnology (NASDAQ:UBX) and PainReform (NASDAQ:PRFX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Unity Biotechnology and PainReform, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unity Biotechnology	0	0	2	0	3.00
PainReform	0	1	0	0	2.00

Unity Biotechnology currently has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 561.16%. PainReform has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 190.91%. Given Unity Biotechnology’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Unity Biotechnology is more favorable than PainReform.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Unity Biotechnology and PainReform”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Unity Biotechnology	$240,000.00	84.95	-$39.86 million	($1.31)	-0.92
PainReform	N/A	N/A	-$9.34 million	($147.33)	-0.02

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

Profitability

This table compares Unity Biotechnology and PainReform’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unity Biotechnology	N/A	-119.70%	-45.86%
PainReform	N/A	-450.64%	-241.33%

Risk & Volatility

Unity Biotechnology has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PainReform has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

29.5% of Unity Biotechnology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.3% of PainReform shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.8% of Unity Biotechnology shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 34.4% of PainReform shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Unity Biotechnology beats PainReform on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Unity Biotechnology

Unity Biotechnology, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the research and development of therapeutics to slow, halt, or reverse diseases of aging. The company's lead drug candidate includes UBX1325, which is Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of age-related diseases of the eye, including diabetic macular edema, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. It also develops UBX1967 for the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases; UBX2048, a Tie2/VEGF bispecific; UBX2050, a human anti-Tie2 agonist monoclonal antibody for the treatment of eye diseases; and UBX2089, a a-Klotho hormone drug candidate for multiple neurology indications. The company was formerly known as Forge, Inc. and changed its name to Unity Biotechnology, Inc. in January 2015. Unity Biotechnology, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About PainReform

PainReform Ltd., a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the reformulation of established therapeutics and provides an extended period of post-surgical pain relief in Israel. It develops PRF-110, a viscous clear oil-based solution that is instilled directly into the surgical wound to provide localized and extended post-operative analgesia, as well as in Phase 3 clinical trial for pain treatment of patients undergoing bunionectomy and second trial for pain treatment of hernia repair operations. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.