Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) & Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) Head to Head Comparison

Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) and Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Talphera and Altimmune’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talphera	$651,000.00	24.28	-$18.40 million	($0.89)	-1.04
Altimmune	$409,000.00	1,307.09	-$88.45 million	($1.59)	-4.74

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Talphera and Altimmune, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talphera	0	0	2	0	3.00
Altimmune	0	2	4	1	2.86

Talphera currently has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 383.87%. Altimmune has a consensus price target of $18.80, indicating a potential upside of 149.34%. Given Talphera’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Talphera is more favorable than Altimmune.

Volatility & Risk

Talphera has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Altimmune has a beta of 0.13, suggesting that its stock price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

37.7% of Talphera shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.1% of Altimmune shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Talphera shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Altimmune shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Talphera and Altimmune’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talphera	N/A	-96.30%	-63.20%
Altimmune	-22,645.37%	-46.96%	-42.96%

Summary

Talphera beats Altimmune on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Talphera

Talphera, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for use in medically supervised settings. Its lead product candidate is Niyad, a lyophilized formulation of nafamostat, which is under an investigational device exemption as an anticoagulant for the extracorporeal circuit. It is also developing LTX-608, an anti-inflammatory and antiviral potential for the treatment of multiple conditions, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and acute pancreatitis; Fedsyra, a pre-filled ephedrine syringe; and PFS-02, a pre-filled phenylephrine syringe. The company was formerly known as AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Talphera, Inc. in January 2024. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

About Altimmune

Altimmune, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for obesity and liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, pemvidutide, a GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist that is in Phase 2 trial for the treatment of obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It is also developing HepTcell, an immunotherapeutic product candidate, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. The company was formerly known as Vaxin Inc. and changed its name to Altimmune, Inc. in September 2015. Altimmune, Inc. was founded in 1997 is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.