Critical Review: Polydex Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:POLXF) and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) and Polydex Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS:POLXF) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and Polydex Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nektar Therapeutics	-192.87%	-456.53%	-57.80%
Polydex Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nektar Therapeutics and Polydex Pharmaceuticals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nektar Therapeutics	$98.43 million	7.66	-$118.96 million	($7.97)	-4.65
Polydex Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Polydex Pharmaceuticals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Nektar Therapeutics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.9% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Nektar Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Polydex Pharmaceuticals shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Nektar Therapeutics and Polydex Pharmaceuticals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nektar Therapeutics	1	1	7	0	2.67
Polydex Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00

Nektar Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $110.86, suggesting a potential upside of 199.05%. Given Nektar Therapeutics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nektar Therapeutics is more favorable than Polydex Pharmaceuticals.

Summary

Nektar Therapeutics beats Polydex Pharmaceuticals on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer. It has collaboration agreements with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; AstraZeneca AB; UCB Pharma S.A.; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Bausch Health Companies Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Amgen Inc.; UCB Pharma (Biogen); Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Merck KGaA; and SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Polydex Pharmaceuticals

Polydex Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is a development stage company, which engages in manufacturing of bulk pharmaceutical intermediates for the worldwide veterinary pharmaceutical industry, and the development, manufacturing, and marketing of biotechnology-based products for the human pharmaceutical market. The firm focuses on Dextran and derivative products, including Iron Dextran and Dextran Sulphate and other specialty chemicals. The company was founded by Thomas C. Usher on June 14, 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.