Critical Survey: CASI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CASI) versus Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO)

CASI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CASI) and Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares CASI Pharmaceuticals and Spero Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CASI Pharmaceuticals	-183.93%	N/A	-131.54%
Spero Therapeutics	24.90%	16.17%	12.57%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for CASI Pharmaceuticals and Spero Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CASI Pharmaceuticals	1	0	1	0	2.00
Spero Therapeutics	0	2	0	0	2.00

CASI Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,827.71%. Given CASI Pharmaceuticals’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CASI Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Spero Therapeutics.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.2% of CASI Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.6% of Spero Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 21.2% of CASI Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Spero Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares CASI Pharmaceuticals and Spero Therapeutics”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CASI Pharmaceuticals	$26.85 million	0.10	-$39.26 million	($3.01)	-0.07
Spero Therapeutics	$66.80 million	1.06	$8.57 million	$0.11	11.05

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

Volatility and Risk

CASI Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spero Therapeutics has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Spero Therapeutics beats CASI Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CASI Pharmaceuticals

CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes therapeutics and pharmaceutical products in the People's Republic of China, the United States, and internationally. It offers EVOMELA, an intravenous formulation of melphalan for use as a conditioning treatment prior to stem cell transplantation, and as a palliative treatment for patients with multiple myeloma. The company's other hematology/oncology assets in pipeline include CNCT 19, an autologous CD19 CAR-T investigative product; BI-1206, novel anti-Fc?RIIB antibody, for the treatment of solid tumors and relapsed/refractory non-hodgkin lymphoma; CB-5339, a novel VCP/p97 inhibitor that focuses on valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 as a novel target in protein homeostasis, DNA damage response, and other cellular stress pathways for therapeutic use in the treatment of patients with various malignancies; CID-103, a human IgG1 anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody; and Thiotepa, a chemotherapeutic agent, which has various indications, including use as a conditioning treatment for use prior to certain allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplants. The company has licensing agreements with Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd.; BioInvent International AB; Black Belt Therapeutics Limited; Cleave Therapeutics, Inc.; and Acrotech Biopharma L.L.C. to develop and commercialize its commercial product EVOMELA. It also has distribution agreements with China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group International Trading Co., Ltd; Pharmathen Global BV; and Riemser Pharma GmbH. CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1991 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

About Spero Therapeutics

Spero Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on identifying, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections and rare diseases in the United States. The company’s product candidates include tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide (HBr), an oral carbapenem-class antibiotic to treat complicated urinary tract infections, including pyelonephritis for adults; SPR206, an intravenous-administered antibiotic against MDR Gram-negative pathogens comprising carbapenem-resistant enterobacterales (CRE), acinetobacter baumannii, and pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as negative bacterial infections in the hospital setting; and SPR720, a novel oral antibiotic agent for the treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease. It has license agreement with Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. to support the development of tebipenem HBr; Everest Medicines to develop, manufacture, and commercialize SPR206 in Greater China, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries; and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for patents relating to SPR720, as well as SPR719, an active metabolite. Spero Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.