Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) & Xeris Biopharma (NASDAQ:XERS) Critical Analysis

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Talphera and Xeris Biopharma, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talphera	1	0	2	2	3.00
Xeris Biopharma	1	1	5	0	2.57

Talphera presently has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 327.35%. Xeris Biopharma has a consensus target price of $7.08, suggesting a potential downside of 10.90%. Given Talphera’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Talphera is more favorable than Xeris Biopharma.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talphera	N/A	-152.38%	-64.32%
Xeris Biopharma	-13.01%	N/A	-8.00%

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talphera	$650,000.00	82.06	-$13.00 million	($0.40)	-2.93
Xeris Biopharma	$203.07 million	6.32	-$54.84 million	($0.21)	-37.86

Talphera has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Xeris Biopharma. Xeris Biopharma is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Talphera, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

37.7% of Talphera shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of Xeris Biopharma shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Talphera shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Xeris Biopharma shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Talphera has a beta of 0.03, suggesting that its stock price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xeris Biopharma has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Talphera beats Xeris Biopharma on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Xeris Biopharma

Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies in Illinois. The company offers Gvoke, a ready-to-use liquid-stable glucagon for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia pediatric and adult patients; Keveyis, a therapy for the treatment of hyperkalemic, hypokalemic, and related variants of primary periodic paralysis; and Recorlev, a cortisol synthesis inhibitor proved for the treatment of endogenous hypercortisolemia in adult patients with Cushing's syndrome. It is also developing XP-8121, a once-weekly subcutaneous injection of levothyroxine that is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of hypothyroidism; and non-aqueous XeriSol and XeriJect technologies for various therapies. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.