Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MACK) and Seelos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SEEL) Critical Comparison

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MACK) and Seelos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SEEL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.0% of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.4% of Seelos Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.9% of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Seelos Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Seelos Therapeutics’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$1.18 million	($0.08)	-183.50
Seelos Therapeutics	$2.20 million	2.87	-$37.88 million	N/A	N/A

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Seelos Therapeutics.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Seelos Therapeutics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	N/A
Seelos Therapeutics	0	2	1	0	2.33

Seelos Therapeutics has a consensus price target of $70.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15,048.24%. Given Seelos Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seelos Therapeutics is more favorable than Merrimack Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Seelos Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-6.24%	-6.09%
Seelos Therapeutics	-1,719.56%	N/A	-517.23%

Risk & Volatility

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Seelos Therapeutics has a beta of 1.88, meaning that its share price is 88% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Merrimack Pharmaceuticals

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About Seelos Therapeutics

Seelos Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system, respiratory, and other disorders. The company's lead programs are SLS-002, an intranasal racemic ketamine for the treatment of acute suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with major depressive disorders; SLS-005, a protein stabilizer for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Sanfilippo syndrome; and SLS-006, a partial dopamine agonist for the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Its preclinical programs include SLS-007, a peptidic inhibitor to treat patients with PD; SLS-008 for the treatment of pediatric indications; SLS-004 for the treatment of PD; SLS-010, an H3 receptor antagonist; and SLS-012. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York.