Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) versus Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) Financial Review

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Altimmune and Talphera, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Altimmune	0	2	4	1	2.86
Talphera	0	0	2	0	3.00

Altimmune currently has a consensus target price of $18.80, suggesting a potential upside of 149.34%. Talphera has a consensus target price of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 383.87%. Given Talphera’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Talphera is more favorable than Altimmune.

Volatility and Risk

Altimmune has a beta of 0.13, indicating that its share price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Talphera has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.1% of Altimmune shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.7% of Talphera shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Altimmune shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Talphera shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Altimmune	-22,645.37%	-46.96%	-42.96%
Talphera	N/A	-96.30%	-63.20%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Altimmune and Talphera’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Altimmune	$409,000.00	1,307.09	-$88.45 million	($1.59)	-4.74
Talphera	$651,000.00	24.28	-$18.40 million	($0.89)	-1.04

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

Summary

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

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 trial for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It is also developing HepTcell, an immunotherapeutic product candidate, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. The company was formerly known as Vaxin Inc. and changed its name to Altimmune, Inc. in September 2015. Altimmune, Inc. was founded in 1997 is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

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.