Head to Head Comparison: Viracta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VIRX) & ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO)

Viracta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VIRX) and ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Viracta Therapeutics has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ALX Oncology has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Viracta Therapeutics and ALX Oncology”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Viracta Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$51.06 million	($1.10)	-0.15
ALX Oncology	N/A	N/A	-$160.80 million	($2.98)	-0.47

ALX Oncology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Viracta Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

31.4% of Viracta Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of ALX Oncology shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.7% of Viracta Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 33.4% of ALX Oncology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Viracta Therapeutics and ALX Oncology, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Viracta Therapeutics	0	1	3	0	2.75
ALX Oncology	0	2	4	0	2.67

Viracta Therapeutics presently has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3,011.39%. ALX Oncology has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 786.52%. Given Viracta Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Viracta Therapeutics is more favorable than ALX Oncology.

Profitability

This table compares Viracta Therapeutics and ALX Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Viracta Therapeutics	N/A	-1,899.61%	-114.21%
ALX Oncology	N/A	-93.02%	-70.67%

Summary

ALX Oncology beats Viracta Therapeutics on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Viracta Therapeutics

Viracta Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage precision oncology company, focuses on the treatment and prevention of virus-associated cancers that impact patients worldwide. Its lead product candidate is Nana-val, an all-oral combination therapy of its proprietary investigational drug, nanatinostat, and the antiviral agent valganciclovir. The company's Nana-val is in various ongoing clinical trials, including NAVAL-1, an open-label Phase 2 basket trial for the treatment of multiple subtypes of relapsed/refractory Epstein-Barr virus-positive (EBV+) lymphoma, as well as an open-label Phase 1b/2 trial for the treatment of EBV+ recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma and other EBV+ solid tumors. Its product pipeline also includes vecabrutinib, a clinical-stage product candidate; and VRx-510, a preclinical product candidate. The company is headquartered in Cardiff, California.

About ALX Oncology

ALX Oncology Holdings Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, focuses on developing therapies for cancer patients in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is Evorpacept, a CD47 blocking therapeutic biologic in development as a combination therapy with other anti-cancer agents, including ASPEN-06, under Phase 2 clinical study for treating Gastric/GEJ cancer; ASPEN-07, under Phase 1 clinical study for treating urothelial cancer; and ASPEN-03 and ASPEN-04, both under Phase 2 clinical study for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. It also has collaboration agreement for Evorpacept combination programs comprising Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc for zanidatamab, under Phase 1 trial for the treatment of breast cancer and other solid tumors; Quantum Leap Healthcare collaborative with an ADC, fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki, under Phase 1 trial for the treatment of patients with breast cancer; MD Anderson Cancer Center with rituximab and lenalidomide for the treatment of patients with indolent and aggressive NHL; Sanofi with isatuximab and dexamethasone, under Phase 1/2 trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Academic Gastrointestinal Cancer Consortium with pembrolizumab and cetuximab, under Phase 2 trial to treat refractory microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer; and University of Pittsburgh with liposomal doxorubicin and pembrolizumab, under Phase 2 trial recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In addition, the company has collaboration agreement with Tallac Therapeutics, Inc. for the development of ALTA-002, a potent immune activator targeted to myeloid cells in the tumor to promote innate and adaptive anti-cancer immune responses. It also has license agreements with Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Selexis SA, and Crystal Bioscience, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.