Head to Head Review: Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) vs. Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL)

Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) and Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Anavex Life Sciences and Pluri, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Anavex Life Sciences	0	0	2	1	3.33
Pluri	0	0	0	0	0.00

Anavex Life Sciences currently has a consensus price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 291.81%. Given Anavex Life Sciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Anavex Life Sciences is more favorable than Pluri.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

31.5% of Anavex Life Sciences shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.6% of Pluri shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.0% of Anavex Life Sciences shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Pluri shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Anavex Life Sciences and Pluri”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Anavex Life Sciences	N/A	N/A	-$47.51 million	($0.52)	-21.60
Pluri	$598,000.00	39.41	-$20.89 million	($6.03)	-0.70

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

Risk and Volatility

Anavex Life Sciences has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pluri has a beta of 1.66, meaning that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Anavex Life Sciences and Pluri’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Anavex Life Sciences	N/A	-30.64%	-28.23%
Pluri	-4,184.28%	-917.18%	-82.85%

Summary

Anavex Life Sciences beats Pluri on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Anavex Life Sciences

Anavex Life Sciences Corp., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as other central nervous system diseases, including rare diseases, such as Rett syndrome, a rare severe neurological monogenic disorder; and infantile spasms, Fragile X syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. The company's drug candidate also comprises ANAVEX 3-71, which is in clinical trial for the treatment of schizophrenia, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Its preclinical drug candidates include ANAVEX 1-41 for the treatment of depression, stroke, and neurogenerative disease; ANAVEX 1066 for the potential treatment of neuropathic and visceral pain; and ANAVEX 1037 to treat prostate and pancreatic cancer. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Pluri

Pluri Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the development of placenta-based cell therapy product candidates for the treatment of inflammatory, muscle injuries, and hematologic conditions. It operates in the field of regenerative medicine, food-tech, and biologics and focuses on establishing partnerships that leverage its 3D cell-based technology to additional industries that require mass cell production. The company's development pipeline includes PLX-PAD, is composed of maternal mesenchymal stromal cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase III study for orthopedic, phase II study for COVID-19, and phase I/II clinical study for Steroid-Refractory cGVHD indications; and PLX-R18, is composed of fetal MSC like cells originating from the placenta that is currently under phase I study for HCT and pilot study for ARS indications. It is also involved in the development of modified PLX cells. The company was formerly known as Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. and changed its name to Pluri Inc. in July 2022. Pluri Inc. was incorporated in 2001 and is based in Haifa, Israel.