Critical Contrast: Aspire Biopharma (NASDAQ:ASBP) & XOMA Royalty (NASDAQ:XOMA)

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

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares XOMA Royalty and Aspire Biopharma”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
XOMA Royalty	$12.57 million	31.89	-$13.82 million	$0.74	43.74
Aspire Biopharma	$1,941.00	5,542.73	-$12.54 million	($0.50)	-0.20

Aspire Biopharma has lower revenue, but higher earnings than XOMA Royalty. Aspire Biopharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than XOMA Royalty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

XOMA Royalty has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aspire Biopharma has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares XOMA Royalty and Aspire Biopharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
XOMA Royalty	-27.57%	2.63%	0.97%
Aspire Biopharma	N/A	N/A	-1,052.55%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for XOMA Royalty and Aspire Biopharma, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
XOMA Royalty	1	1	2	0	2.25
Aspire Biopharma	1	0	0	0	1.00

XOMA Royalty presently has a consensus price target of $69.50, suggesting a potential upside of 114.70%. Given XOMA Royalty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe XOMA Royalty is more favorable than Aspire Biopharma.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.9% of XOMA Royalty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.2% of Aspire Biopharma shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of XOMA Royalty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 25.8% of Aspire Biopharma shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

XOMA Royalty beats Aspire Biopharma on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About XOMA Royalty

XOMA Corporation operates as a biotech royalty aggregator in the United States and the Asia Pacific. It has a portfolio of economic rights to future potential milestone and royalty payments associated with partnered commercial and pre-commercial therapeutic candidates. The company also focuses on early to mid-stage clinical assets primarily in Phase 1 and 2 with commercial sales potential that are licensed to partners; and acquires milestone and royalty revenue streams on late-stage clinical or commercial assets. It has a portfolio with various assets. XOMA Corporation was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

About Aspire Biopharma

Aspire Biopharma Holdings, Inc., early-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing and marketing of disruptive technology for delivery mechanisms for do no harm drugs in the United States. The company provides Sublingual Aspirin Product, which addresses cardiology emergencies and pain management. It develops formulation for a sublingually administered melatonin sleep-aid product; vitamins D, E, and K; testosterone; and semaglutide, as well as formulations for anti-nausea products, anti-psychotic products, ED drugs, seizure medication, and several other classes of drugs. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Humacao, Puerto Rico.