Analyzing Nanobiotix (NASDAQ:NBTX) & Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

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

Volatility and Risk

Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nanobiotix has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Pliant Therapeutics and Nanobiotix, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pliant Therapeutics	2	2	1	0	1.80
Nanobiotix	1	1	4	0	2.50

Pliant Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, suggesting a potential upside of 188.46%. Nanobiotix has a consensus target price of $37.33, suggesting a potential downside of 2.73%. Given Pliant Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Pliant Therapeutics is more favorable than Nanobiotix.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.8% of Nanobiotix shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Nanobiotix shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Nanobiotix”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58 million	40.76	-$149.34 million	($1.84)	-0.57
Nanobiotix	$36.87 million	52.69	-$27.11 million	N/A	N/A

Nanobiotix has higher revenue and earnings than Pliant Therapeutics.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-58.11%	-44.37%
Nanobiotix	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Nanobiotix beats Pliant Therapeutics on 7 of the 11 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 Nanobiotix

Nanobiotix S.A., a clinical-stage biotechnology, focuses on developing product candidates for the treatment of cancer and other unmet medical needs. Its lead product candidate is NBTXR3, a sterile aqueous suspension of crystalline hafnium oxide nanoparticles used for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma, head and neck cancers, liver cancers, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, rectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. The company has a partnership with Lian Oncology Limited to develop and commercialize NBTXR3 in Greater China, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. Nanobiotix S.A. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Paris, France.