Comparing Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRNE) and Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSE:PLX)

Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSE:PLX) and Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRNE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Protalix BioTherapeutics and Sorrento Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Protalix BioTherapeutics	0	0	1	0	3.00
Sorrento Therapeutics	0	0	0	0	0.00

Protalix BioTherapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 460.75%. Given Protalix BioTherapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Protalix BioTherapeutics is more favorable than Sorrento Therapeutics.

Risk and Volatility

Protalix BioTherapeutics has a beta of -0.26, meaning that its stock price is 126% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sorrento Therapeutics has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

16.5% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Protalix BioTherapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Sorrento Therapeutics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Protalix BioTherapeutics and Sorrento Therapeutics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Protalix BioTherapeutics	-21.03%	-30.89%	-11.74%
Sorrento Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Protalix BioTherapeutics and Sorrento Therapeutics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Protalix BioTherapeutics	$52.74 million	3.27	$8.31 million	($0.09)	-23.78
Sorrento Therapeutics	$60.32 million	0.02	-$572.84 million	($0.43)	-0.01

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

Summary

Protalix BioTherapeutics beats Sorrento Therapeutics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Protalix BioTherapeutics

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development, production, and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins based on its proprietary ProCellEx plant cell-based protein expression system in the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, and internationally. The company offers Elelyso for the treatment of Gaucher disease; and Elfabrio for the treatment of adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease. It is also developing PRX-115, a plant cell-expressed recombinant PEGylated Uricase which is in Phase I trial for the treatment of gout; and PRX-119, a plant cell-expressed PEGylated recombinant human DNase I product candidate that is in preclinical phase for the treatment of NETs-related diseases. The company has agreements and partnerships with Pfizer; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; and Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Karmiel, Israel. Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Protalix Ltd.

About Sorrento Therapeutics

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical and commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of next-generation treatments for three therapeutic areas: cancer, infectious disease,and pain. It operates through two segments, Sorrento Therapeutics and Scilex. The company provides cancer therapeutic by leveraging its proprietary G-MAB antibody library and targeted delivery modalities, which include chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T), dimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and antibody drug conjugate, as well as bispecific antibody approach; and Sofusa, a drug delivery technology that deliver biologic directly into the lymphatic system. Its clinical programs in development include anti-CD38 CAR-T therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, as well as for amyloidosis and graft versus host disease. The company develops resiniferatoxin, a non-opioid-based TRPV1 agonist neurotoxin for late stage cancer and osteoarthritis pain treatment; and ZTlido, a lidocaine topical system for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. It engages in the development of SEMDEXA, an injectable viscous gel formulation, which is Phase III trial for the treatment of sciatica, a pathology of low back pain; SP-103, an investigational non-aqueous lidocaine topical system undergoing clinical development in chronic low back pain condition; and SP-104, a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride formulation for the treatment of fibromyalgia. It has collaboration with SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. to develop gene-encoded antibody vaccine to protect against COVID-19; and Mayo Clinic for Phase Ib pilot study using sofusa lymphatic drug delivery technology to deliver Ipilimumab in patient with melanoma. The company was founded in 2006 and is based in San Diego, California. On February 13, 2023, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., along with its affiliate, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The plan was later approved as Chapter 11 liquidation on November 30, 2023.