Contrasting Connect Biopharma (NASDAQ:CNTB) & Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH)

Connect Biopharma (NASDAQ:CNTB) and Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Connect Biopharma and Talphera, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Connect Biopharma	0	0	1	0	3.00
Talphera	0	0	2	0	3.00

Connect Biopharma presently has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 540.00%. Talphera has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 440.54%. Given Connect Biopharma’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Connect Biopharma is more favorable than Talphera.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

58.7% of Connect Biopharma shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.7% of Talphera shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.6% of Connect Biopharma shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Talphera shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Connect Biopharma and Talphera”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Connect Biopharma	$24.12 million	2.86	-$59.50 million	N/A	N/A
Talphera	$398,000.00	35.54	-$18.40 million	($0.89)	-0.94

Talphera has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Connect Biopharma.

Profitability

This table compares Connect Biopharma and Talphera’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Connect Biopharma	N/A	N/A	N/A
Talphera	N/A	-88.77%	-56.10%

Volatility and Risk

Connect Biopharma has a beta of -0.35, indicating that its share price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talphera has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Connect Biopharma beats Talphera on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Connect Biopharma

Connect Biopharma Holdings Limited, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapies for the treatment of T cell-driven inflammatory diseases. The company is building a pipeline of small molecules and antibodies using functional T cell assays to screen and discover potent product candidates against validated immune targets. Its lead product candidate is rademikibart (formerly CBP-201), an antibody designed to target interleukin-4 receptor alpha, which is a validated target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis and asthma, currently under Phase 3 studies; and icanbelimod (formerly CBP-307), an oral small molecule Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor 1 modulator, currently under Phase 2 clinical for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in San Diego, California.

About Talphera

Talphera, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for use in medically supervised settings. Its lead product candidate is Niyad, a lyophilized formulation of nafamostat, which is under an investigational device exemption as an anticoagulant for the extracorporeal circuit. It is also developing LTX-608, an anti-inflammatory and antiviral potential for the treatment of multiple conditions, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and acute pancreatitis; Fedsyra, a pre-filled ephedrine syringe; and PFS-02, a pre-filled phenylephrine syringe. The company was formerly known as AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Talphera, Inc. in January 2024. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.