Reviewing X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) & Alvotech (NASDAQ:ALVO)

X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR) and Alvotech (NASDAQ:ALVO) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.0% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of X4 Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

X4 Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alvotech has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for X4 Pharmaceuticals and Alvotech, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
X4 Pharmaceuticals	1	1	3	0	2.40
Alvotech	2	2	2	0	2.00

X4 Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 106.81%. Alvotech has a consensus price target of $7.60, suggesting a potential upside of 136.02%. Given Alvotech’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alvotech is more favorable than X4 Pharmaceuticals.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Alvotech”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
X4 Pharmaceuticals	$9.01 million	43.01	-$79.20 million	($4.54)	-0.91
Alvotech	$588.90 million	1.65	$27.92 million	($0.25)	-12.88

Alvotech has higher revenue and earnings than X4 Pharmaceuticals. Alvotech is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than X4 Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares X4 Pharmaceuticals and Alvotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
X4 Pharmaceuticals	-1,106.30%	-94.90%	-48.09%
Alvotech	-14.36%	-11.92%	-7.58%

About X4 Pharmaceuticals

X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases. Its lead product candidate is mavorixafor, a small molecule inhibitor of the chemokine receptor C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), which is in Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients with warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis syndrome; and Phase II clinical trial to treat congenital, idiopathic, or cyclic neutropenia. The company is also developing X4P-003, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of CXCR4 dependent disorders and primary immunodeficiencies; and X4P-002, a CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of blood-brain barrier diseases. It has a license agreement with Abbisko Therapeutics Co Ltd. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize mavorixafor in combination with checkpoint inhibitors or other agents in oncology indications. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Alvotech

Alvotech, through its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures biosimilar medicines for patients worldwide. It offers biosimilar products in the therapeutic areas of autoimmune, eye, and bone disorders, as well as cancer. The company's lead program is AVT02, a high concentration formulation biosimilar to Humira to treat various inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and other indications; AVT04, a biosimilar to Stelara to treat various inflammatory conditions comprising psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and other indications; AVT06, a biosimilar to Eylea to treat various conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration, macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy; and AVT03, a biosimilar to Xgeva and Prolia, which is in the pre-clinical phase to treat prevent bone fracture, spinal cord compression, and the need for radiation or bone surgery in patients with certain types of cancer, as well as prevent bone loss and increase bone mass. In addition, it offers AVT05, a biosimilar to Simponi and Simponi Aria, which is in early phase development to treat various inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and other indications; AVT16, a biosimilar to an Entyvio product; AVT23, a biosimilar to Xolair, which is in late-stage development to treat nasal polyps; and AVT33, a biosimilar to an Keytruda product. Alvotech was founded in 2013 and is based in Luxembourg, Luxembourg.