Analyzing Alumis (NASDAQ:ALMS) and Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ:PYXS)

Alumis (NASDAQ:ALMS) and Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ:PYXS) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alumis and Pyxis Oncology”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alumis	$24.05 million	49.40	-$243.32 million	($3.86)	-2.38
Pyxis Oncology	$13.86 million	19.32	-$79.62 million	($1.41)	-2.28

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

39.1% of Pyxis Oncology shares are held by institutional investors. 33.7% of Alumis shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Pyxis Oncology shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Alumis has a beta of -0.81, suggesting that its share price is 181% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pyxis Oncology has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Alumis and Pyxis Oncology’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alumis	-5,933.46%	-93.15%	-74.50%
Pyxis Oncology	N/A	-215.23%	-112.19%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Alumis and Pyxis Oncology, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alumis	1	1	9	1	2.83
Pyxis Oncology	1	1	8	0	2.70

Alumis presently has a consensus target price of $33.27, suggesting a potential upside of 262.45%. Pyxis Oncology has a consensus target price of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 172.59%. Given Alumis’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Alumis is more favorable than Pyxis Oncology.

Summary

Alumis beats Pyxis Oncology on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alumis

Our mission is to significantly improve the lives of patients by replacing broad immunosuppression with targeted therapies. Our name, Alumis, captures our mission to enlighten immunology, and is inspired by the words “allumer”-French for illuminate-and “immunis”-Latin for the immune system. We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with an initial focus on developing our two Tyrosine Kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitors: ESK-001, a second-generation inhibitor that we are developing to maximize target inhibition and optimize tolerability, and A-005, a central nervous system (CNS) penetrant molecule. ESK-001 has demonstrated significant therapeutic effect in our Phase 2 program in patients with PsO, which we define as moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (PsO), and is currently being evaluated in an additional Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), for which we expect to report results in 2026. With the favorable results in our Phase 2 clinical trial in PsO, we intend to initiate multiple Phase 3 clinical trials of ESK-001 in the second half of 2024 in this indication. TYK2 genetic mutations are associated with a strong protective effect in multiple sclerosis, motivating us to develop our second product candidate, A-005, as a CNS-penetrant, allosteric TYK2 inhibitor for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. In April 2024, we initiated our Phase 1 program of A-005 in healthy volunteers and expect to report initial results by the end of 2024. We utilize our proprietary precision data analytics platform, biological insights and team of experienced research and development experts to deepen our understanding of disease pathologies, accelerate research and development and increase the probability of clinical success. Our collective insights informed our selection of TYK2 as the target for our two lead programs. Beyond TYK2, our proprietary precision data analytics platform and drug discovery expertise have led to the identification of additional preclinical programs that exemplify our precision approach. We recognize that patients living with immune-mediated diseases need alternatives to currently available therapies. Despite recent advances and innovations in the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, many patients continue to suffer, cycling through currently approved therapies while looking for a solution that alleviates the debilitating impact of their disease without life-limiting side effects. Addressing the needs of these patients is why we exist. We are pioneering a precision approach that leverages insights derived from powerful data analytics to select the right target, right molecule, right indication, right patient, right endpoint and right combination to dramatically improve patient outcomes. We believe that combining our insights with an integrated approach to drug development will produce the next generation of treatments to address immune dysfunction. We were founded in January 2021 as a Delaware corporation under the name FL2021-001, Inc. We changed our name to Esker Therapeutics, Inc. in March 2021, and subsequently to Alumis Inc. in January 2022. Our principal executive offices are located at 280 East Grand Avenue, South San Francisco, California.

About Pyxis Oncology

Pyxis Oncology, Inc., a clinical stage company, engages in the development of therapeutics to treat cancers. Its lead antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) product candidate is PYX-201, an investigational novel ADC consisting of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1), which is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors; and lead immuno-oncology (IO) product candidate is PYX-106, an investigational fully human IgG1 Siglec-15-targeting antibody that is in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat patients with advanced solid tumors. The company is also developing PYX-107, a CD40 agonist with demonstrated anti-cancer activity in patients who previously progressed on PD-(L)1 inhibitors, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumors, such as soft tissue sarcomas, esophageal and gastroesophageal junction, cancers, and melanoma in combination with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. It has in-license agreement with Pfizer Inc. to develop and commercialize ADC product candidates directed to certain licensed targets, including PYX-201 and PYX-203, and products containing the ADC product candidates; and Biosion USA, Inc. for development, manufacture, and commercialization of PYX-106, an IO product candidate. Pyxis Oncology, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.