Contrasting Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) & Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH)

Talphera (NASDAQ:TLPH) and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRNX) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

37.7% of Talphera shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Talphera shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Talphera has a beta of 0.25, meaning that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Talphera and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Talphera	1	0	2	1	2.75
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals	1	2	11	0	2.71

Talphera presently has a consensus price target of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 287.60%. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals has a consensus price target of $77.55, suggesting a potential upside of 63.60%. Given Talphera’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Talphera is more favorable than Crinetics Pharmaceuticals.

Profitability

This table compares Talphera and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Talphera	N/A	-126.50%	-61.93%
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-35.09%	-32.04%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Talphera and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Talphera	$28,000.00	2,147.39	-$13.00 million	($0.38)	-3.39
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals	$1.04 million	4,324.79	-$298.41 million	($4.53)	-10.46

Talphera has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Crinetics Pharmaceuticals. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Talphera, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of 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 Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for rare endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors. The company's lead product candidate is paltusotine, an oral selective nonpeptide somatostatin receptor type 2 agonist, which is in Phase 3 trial for the treatment of acromegaly; and Phase 2 trial for treating carcinoid syndrome associated with neuroendocrine tumors. It is also developing CRN04894, an investigational oral nonpeptide product candidate to antagonize the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) receptor that has completed a Phase 1 study for the treatment of diseases caused by excess ACTH, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Cushing's disease. In addition, the company is developing antagonists of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor for the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism and humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy, and other diseases of excess PTH; identified investigational orally available somatostatin receptor type 3 targeted nonpeptide agonists for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease; and developing thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antagonists for the treatment of graves' disease and thyroid eye disease, as well as Oral GLP-1 and GIP nonpeptides for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.