Contrasting iBio (NASDAQ:IBIO) and Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and iBio”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58 million	45.46	-$149.34 million	($1.49)	-0.78
iBio	$100,000.00	650.81	-$33.04 million	($0.34)	-3.85

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Pliant Therapeutics and iBio, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pliant Therapeutics	2	1	1	0	1.75
iBio	1	0	4	3	3.12

Pliant Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 158.62%. iBio has a consensus target price of $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 281.68%. Given iBio’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe iBio is more favorable than Pliant Therapeutics.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-52.17%	-40.46%
iBio	N/A	-40.66%	-35.78%

Risk and Volatility

Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, iBio has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.9% of iBio shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of iBio shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

iBio beats Pliant Therapeutics on 10 of the 14 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 iBio

iBio, Inc., a biotechnology company, provides contract development and manufacturing services to collaborators and third-party customers in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Biopharmaceuticals and Bioprocessing. Its lead therapeutic candidate is IBIO-100 that is being advanced for investigational new drug development for the treatment of systemic scleroderma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company is also developing vaccine candidates comprising IBIO-200 and IBIO-201, which are in preclinical development for the prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; and IBIO-400 for the treatment of classical swine fever. In addition, it is developing recombinant proteins for third parties on a catalog and custom basis; and offers a range of process development, manufacturing, filling and finishing, and bio analytic services. iBio, Inc. has a license agreement with Planet Biotechnology, Inc. to develop therapeutics for infectious diseases; collaboration agreement with The Texas A&M University System for the development of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine candidates; license agreement with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna; and collaboration agreement with CC-Pharming Ltd. The company is headquartered in Bryan, Texas.