Analyzing Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) and Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-71.51%	-53.26%
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-51.49%	-40.00%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pliant Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58 million	51.34	-$210.30 million	($2.88)	-0.46
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	$67.43 million	2.66	-$165.84 million	($2.07)	-1.20

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has higher revenue and earnings than Pliant Therapeutics. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pliant Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Pliant Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pliant Therapeutics	2	2	1	0	1.80
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	0	1	2.17

Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $4.00, suggesting a potential upside of 203.03%. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 101.61%. Given Pliant Therapeutics’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Pliant Therapeutics is more favorable than Zentalis Pharmaceuticals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.4% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Zentalis 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.

Summary

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals beats Pliant Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis. It also develops PLN-1474, an oral, small-molecule selective inhibitor of avß1 for the treatment of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; PLN-101095, a dual inhibitor of integrins avß8 and avß1 for the treatment of solid tumors; and PLN-101325 for treatment of muscular dystrophies. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in South San Francisco, California.

About Zentalis Pharmaceuticals

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of various cancers. Its products candidatures include the ZN-c3, an inhibitor of WEE1, a protein tyrosine kinase for the treatment of inhibitor for advanced solid tumors and hematological malignancies; in Phase 2 clinical trial as a monotherapy for the treatment of uterine serous carcinoma indications; Phase 2 clinical trial in Cyclin E1 driven high-grade serous ovarian cancer, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer; Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with PARPi for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer; Phase 1b clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian, and peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer; Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma; Phase 1/2 clinical trial with encorafenib and cetuximab for mutant metastatic colorectal cancer; and Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. The company's products pipeline also includes ZN-d5, an oral small molecule inhibitor of B-cell lymphoma 2, for hematological malignancies and related disorders; and BCL-xL heterobifunctional degrader, a member of the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins, for solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has licensing agreements and strategic collaborations with Recurium IP Holdings, LLC; Pfizer, Inc.; Zentera Therapeutics; Dana-Farber; and GlaxoSmithKline plc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.