Critical Review: X4 Pharmaceuticals (XFOR) versus Its Competitors

X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) is one of 846 public companies in the “Biotechnology” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare X4 Pharmaceuticals to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for X4 Pharmaceuticals and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X4 Pharmaceuticals	1	1	4	0	2.50
X4 Pharmaceuticals Competitors	9904	15277	45619	1595	2.54

X4 Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus target price of $11.25, suggesting a potential upside of 246.15%. As a group, “Biotechnology” companies have a potential upside of 99.11%. Given X4 Pharmaceuticals’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe X4 Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than its rivals.

Volatility and Risk

X4 Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, X4 Pharmaceuticals’ rivals have a beta of 1.14, indicating that their average stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X4 Pharmaceuticals	-474.74%	-49.62%	-30.80%
X4 Pharmaceuticals Competitors	-12,285.98%	-196.04%	-30.61%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

72.0% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.7% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all “Biotechnology” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
X4 Pharmaceuticals	$16.96 million	-$79.20 million	-4.85
X4 Pharmaceuticals Competitors	$729.47 million	$11.46 million	-14.88

X4 Pharmaceuticals’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than X4 Pharmaceuticals. X4 Pharmaceuticals is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

X4 Pharmaceuticals rivals beat X4 Pharmaceuticals on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

About X4 Pharmaceuticals

X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare diseases caused by disorders of the immune system. The company’s research centers on the CXCR4 pathway, which plays a role in the movement and function of immune cells. X4’s lead product, XOLREMDI (mavorixafor), is an oral CXCR4 antagonist approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in patients aged 12 and older with WHIM syndrome, a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder.