Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) & NRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NRXP) Head-To-Head Analysis

Xencor (NASDAQ:XNCR) and NRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NRXP) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.3% of NRx Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.2% of Xencor shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.0% of NRx Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Xencor has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NRx Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.62, suggesting that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Xencor and NRx Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Xencor	1	1	8	0	2.70
NRx Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	0	2.50

Xencor presently has a consensus price target of $24.88, indicating a potential upside of 91.05%. NRx Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $36.75, indicating a potential upside of 1,633.49%. Given NRx Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe NRx Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Xencor.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Xencor and NRx Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Xencor	$110.49 million	8.41	-$232.62 million	($1.77)	-7.36
NRx Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$25.13 million	($2.35)	-0.90

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

Profitability

This table compares Xencor and NRx Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Xencor	-87.14%	-20.44%	-14.52%
NRx Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-395.06%

Summary

NRx Pharmaceuticals beats Xencor on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Xencor

Xencor, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of engineered monoclonal antibody and cytokine therapeutics to treat patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company provides Sotrovimab that targets the SARS-CoV-2 virus; Ultomiris for the treatment of patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome; and Monjuvi for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It develops Plamotamab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Vudalimab, a bispecific antibody, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and other solid tumor types. The company is also developing XmAb306, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat solid tumors; XmAb104, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat patients with selected solid tumors; XmAb564 that is in Phase Ia clinical trial to treat autoimmune diseases; AMG 509, which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat prostate cancer; XmAb819 for patients with renal cell carcinoma; XmAb541 for the treatment of ovarian cancer; and XmAb662 which is in Phase I clinical trial to treat patients with solid tumors. In addition, the company develops VIR-3434, which is in Phase II clinical trial for patients with hepatitis B virus infection; and VIR-2482 that is in Phase 2 clinical trial to trat hepatitis B virus. The company develops AIMab7195 to reduce blood serum levels of IgE that mediates allergic responses and allergic disease; Obexelimab to treat autoimmune disease; and Xpro1595 to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease, and depression. It has a license agreement with Caris Life Sciences. Xencor, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

About NRx Pharmaceuticals

NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage bio-pharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system disorders, including suicidal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic pain. Its products include NRX-101 (D-cycloserine/Lurasidone), an oral, fixed dosed combination of D-cycloserine and lurasidone that earned food and drug administration-designated breakthrough therapy for suicidal treatment-resistant bipolar depression; and NRX-100 (ketamine), which has been awarded FDA fast track designation for the treatment of severe bipolar depression with acute suicidal ideation and behavior. The company has a partnership with Alvogen Inc. and Lotus Pharmaceutical Company; development and manufacturing agreement with Nephron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alcami; license agreement with Apkarian Technologies; development and license agreement with Glytech; license agreement with Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.