Protalex (OTCMKTS:PRTX) versus Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) Financial Comparison

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) and Protalex (OTCMKTS:PRTX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and Protalex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nektar Therapeutics	-192.87%	-456.53%	-57.80%
Protalex	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Nektar Therapeutics and Protalex, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nektar Therapeutics	1	1	7	0	2.67
Protalex	0	0	0	0	0.00

Nektar Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $110.86, indicating a potential upside of 208.71%. Given Nektar Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Nektar Therapeutics is more favorable than Protalex.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nektar Therapeutics	$98.43 million	7.42	-$118.96 million	($7.97)	-4.51
Protalex	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Protalex has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nektar Therapeutics.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

75.9% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 80.0% of Protalex shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Nektar Therapeutics beats Protalex on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer. It has collaboration agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; AstraZeneca AB; UCB Pharma S.A.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Bausch Health Companies Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Amgen Inc.; UCB Pharma (Biogen); Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Merck KGaA; and SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Protalex

Protalex, Inc. focuses on the development of biopharmaceutical drugs for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in the United States. The company targets a range of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), psoriasis, myasthenia gravis, chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyneuropathy, and pemphigus. Its lead product candidate is PRTX-100, an immunomodulatory therapy, a highly-purified form of staphylococcal protein A, which is in Phase I/II open-label, dose-escalating study for the treatment of patients with persistent/chronic ITP; and Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of RA on methotrexate or leflunomide. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Florham Park, New Jersey.