Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) vs. Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) Head to Head Comparison

Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Pluri (NASDAQ:PLUR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Scilex and Pluri’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scilex	-233.88%	N/A	-115.97%
Pluri	-6,339.59%	-248.48%	-49.90%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.7% of Scilex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.6% of Pluri shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Scilex shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Pluri shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Scilex has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pluri has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Scilex and Pluri’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scilex	$46.74 million	5.05	-$114.33 million	($1.31)	-0.94
Pluri	$341,000.00	88.61	-$28.32 million	($4.13)	-1.36

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Scilex and Pluri, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scilex	0	0	3	0	3.00
Pluri	0	0	0	0	N/A

Scilex currently has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 550.41%. Given Scilex’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Scilex is more favorable than Pluri.

Summary

Scilex beats Pluri on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scilex

Scilex Holding Company focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Its commercial products include ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% (ZTlido), a prescription lidocaine topical product for the relief of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain; ELYXYB, a ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults; and GLOPERBA, a liquid oral version of the anti-gout medicine colchicine indicated for the prophylaxis of painful gout flares in adults. The company is also developing three product candidates, including SP-102 (10 mg dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA), a novel viscous gel formulation of a used corticosteroid for epidural injections, which has completed a Phase 3 study to treat lumbosacral radicular pain or sciatica; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4% (SP-103), a formulation of ZTlido for the treatment of chronic neck pain and low back pain (LBP) that has completed a Phase 2 trial; and SP-104 (4.5 mg low-dose naltrexone hydrochloride delayed-release capsules) (SP-104), a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride, which has completed Phase 1 trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

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.