Analyzing Nurix Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NRIX) and Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Nurix Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NRIX) and Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Nurix Therapeutics and Verastem, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nurix Therapeutics	0	3	15	0	2.83
Verastem	0	0	9	0	3.00

Nurix Therapeutics currently has a consensus target price of $30.88, suggesting a potential upside of 142.60%. Verastem has a consensus target price of $13.88, suggesting a potential upside of 116.80%. Given Nurix Therapeutics’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Nurix Therapeutics is more favorable than Verastem.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nurix Therapeutics and Verastem”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nurix Therapeutics	$54.55 million	17.71	-$193.57 million	($2.89)	-4.40
Verastem	$10.00 million	28.48	-$87.37 million	($3.50)	-1.83

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

Profitability

This table compares Nurix Therapeutics and Verastem’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nurix Therapeutics	-354.85%	-53.65%	-38.59%
Verastem	N/A	-332.73%	-73.97%

Volatility & Risk

Nurix Therapeutics has a beta of 2.18, suggesting that its stock price is 118% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verastem has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.4% of Verastem shares are held by institutional investors. 7.2% of Nurix Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Verastem shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Nurix Therapeutics beats Verastem on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nurix Therapeutics

Nurix Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule and cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory conditions, and other diseases. The company develops NX-2127, an orally bioavailable Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) degrader for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies; NX-5948, an orally bioavailable BTK degrader for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases; and NX-1607, an orally bioavailable Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene-B (CBL-B) inhibitor for immuno-oncology indications. It is also developing NX-0479/GS-6791, a IRAK4 degrader for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. The company has a strategic collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc., Sanofi S.A., and Seagen Inc. co-development and co-commercialization for multiple drug candidates. The company was formerly known as Nurix Inc. and changed its name to Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. in October 2018. Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Verastem

Verastem, Inc., a development-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing drugs for the treatment of cancer in the United States. Its product candidates are Avutometinib, an orally available small molecule RAF/MEK clamp that inhibits the ras sarcoma RAF/MEK, ERK mitogen activated pathway kinase pathway which is involved in cell proliferation, migration, transformation, and survival of tumor cells; and Defactinib, an oral small molecule inhibitor of FAK and proline-rich tyrosine kinase for various solid tumors. The company is involved in clinical studies, including RAMP 301, a randomized global confirmatory trial to evaluate the combination of Avutometinib and Defactinib for the treatment of patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer; RAMP 201, an adaptive two-part multicenter, parallel cohort, randomized open label trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Avutometinib and in combination with Defactinib; and FRAME, an investigation of Avutometinib and Defactinib in patients with KRAS mutant cancers and subsequent analyses; and RAMP 204 and 205. It has license agreements with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the development, commercialization, and manufacture of products containing Avutometinib; and Pfizer Inc. to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize products containing Pfizer's inhibitors of FAK for therapeutic, diagnostic, and prophylactic uses in humans. In addition, it has a clinical collaboration agreement with Amgen, Inc. to evaluate the combination of Avutometinib with Amgen's KRAS-G12C inhibitor LUMAKRAS which in Phase 1/2 trial entitled RAMP 203; and a discovery and development collaboration with GenFleet Therapeutics to advance new programs targeting RAS pathway-driven cancers. Verastem, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.