NeuroSense Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NRSN) & Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) Critical Review

NeuroSense Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NRSN) and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZNTL) are both small-cap medical 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for NeuroSense Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NeuroSense Therapeutics	1	1	2	1	2.60
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	2	0	2.14

NeuroSense Therapeutics presently has a consensus target price of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1,033.18%. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus target price of $5.83, suggesting a potential upside of 59.38%. Given NeuroSense Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe NeuroSense Therapeutics is more favorable than Zentalis Pharmaceuticals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.0% of NeuroSense Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 27.4% of NeuroSense Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals 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.

Profitability

This table compares NeuroSense Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NeuroSense Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-53.61%	-40.67%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NeuroSense Therapeutics	N/A	N/A	-$11.12 million	($0.54)	-1.39
Zentalis Pharmaceuticals	$67.43 million	3.86	-$137.06 million	($1.73)	-2.12

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

Volatility and Risk

NeuroSense Therapeutics has a beta of 1.56, suggesting that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.97, suggesting that its share price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NeuroSense Therapeutics beats Zentalis Pharmaceuticals on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NeuroSense Therapeutics

NeuroSense Therapeutics Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on discovering and developing treatments for patients suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative diseases in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product is PrimeC, an extended-release oral formulation of a fixed-dose combination of ciprofloxacin and celecoxib, currently under Phase 2b/3 clinical trials for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and completed Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, as well as under preclinical studies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Its preclinical pipeline includes StabiliC for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease; and CogniC for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel.

About Zentalis Pharmaceuticals

Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of various cancers. Its products candidatures include the ZN-c3, an inhibitor of WEE1, a protein tyrosine kinase for the treatment of inhibitor for advanced solid tumors and hematological malignancies; in Phase 2 clinical trial as a monotherapy for the treatment of uterine serous carcinoma indications; Phase 2 clinical trial in Cyclin E1 driven high-grade serous ovarian cancer, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer; Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with PARPi for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer; Phase 1b clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian, and peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer; Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma; Phase 1/2 clinical trial with encorafenib and cetuximab for mutant metastatic colorectal cancer; and Phase 1/2 clinical trial in combination with chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. The company's products pipeline also includes ZN-d5, an oral small molecule inhibitor of B-cell lymphoma 2, for hematological malignancies and related disorders; and BCL-xL heterobifunctional degrader, a member of the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins, for solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has licensing agreements and strategic collaborations with Recurium IP Holdings, LLC; Pfizer, Inc.; Zentera Therapeutics; Dana-Farber; and GlaxoSmithKline plc. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.