Reviewing Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR)

Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) and Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Pluri has a beta of 1.65, suggesting that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Scilex has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Pluri and Scilex’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pluri	$341,000.00	82.18	-$28.32 million	($4.13)	-1.26
Scilex	$50.83 million	4.35	-$114.33 million	($1.31)	-0.93

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

Profitability

This table compares Pluri and Scilex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pluri	-6,339.59%	-248.48%	-49.90%
Scilex	-233.88%	N/A	-111.82%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

16.6% of Pluri shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of Scilex shares are held by institutional investors. 10.2% of Pluri shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.7% of Scilex shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Pluri and Scilex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pluri	0	0	0	0	N/A
Scilex	0	0	3	0	3.00

Scilex has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 555.74%. Given Scilex’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Scilex is more favorable than Pluri.

Summary

Scilex beats Pluri on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pluri

Pluri Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development of placenta-based cell therapy product candidates for the treatment of inflammatory, muscle injuries, and hematologic conditions. It operates in the field of regenerative medicine, food-tech, and biologics and focuses on establishing partnerships that leverage its 3D cell-based technology to additional industries that require mass cell production. The company's development pipeline includes PLX-PAD, is composed of maternal mesenchymal stromal cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase III study for orthopedic, phase II study for COVID-19, and phase I/II clinical study for Steroid-Refractory cGVHD indications; and PLX-R18, is composed of fetal MSC like cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase I study for HCT and pilot study for ARS indications. It is also involved in the development of modified PLX cells. The company was formerly known as Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Pluri Inc. in July 2022. Pluri Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is based in Haifa, Israel.

About Scilex

Scilex Holding Company focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Its commercial products include ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% (ZTlido), a prescription lidocaine topical product for the relief of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain; ELYXYB, a ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults; and GLOPERBA, a liquid oral version of the anti-gout medicine colchicine indicated for the prophylaxis of painful gout flares in adults. The company is also developing three product candidates, including SP-102 (10 mg dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA), a novel viscous gel formulation of a used corticosteroid for epidural injections, which has completed a Phase 3 study to treat lumbosacral radicular pain or sciatica; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4% (SP-103), a formulation of ZTlido for the treatment of chronic neck pain and low back pain (LBP) that has completed a Phase 2 trial; and SP-104 (4.5 mg low-dose naltrexone hydrochloride delayed-release capsules) (SP-104), a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride, which has completed Phase 1 trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.