Critical Survey: Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) vs. Tharimmune (NASDAQ:THAR)

Phio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PHIO) and Tharimmune (NASDAQ:THAR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Phio Pharmaceuticals and Tharimmune, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Phio Pharmaceuticals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Tharimmune	0	0	1	1	3.50

Phio Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $4.00, indicating a potential upside of 129.89%. Tharimmune has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 780.83%. Given Tharimmune’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Tharimmune is more favorable than Phio Pharmaceuticals.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$10.83 million	($10.92)	-0.16
Tharimmune	N/A	N/A	-$9.32 million	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Phio Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tharimmune has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

57.3% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.2% of Tharimmune shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Phio Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Tharimmune shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Phio Pharmaceuticals and Tharimmune’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Phio Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-134.57%	-108.39%
Tharimmune	N/A	-167.63%	-130.18%

Summary

Tharimmune beats Phio Pharmaceuticals on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Phio Pharmaceuticals

Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. engages in the development of immuno-oncology therapeutics in the United States. The company is developing PH-762, an INTASYL compound in Phase 1b dose-escalating clinical trials to reduce the expression of cell death protein 1 (PD-1), a protein that inhibits T cells’ ability to kill cancer cells; and PH-762 treated double positive tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials to treat advanced melanoma and other advanced solid tumors. It is also developing PH-894, an INTASYL compound in IND enabling studies to silence BRD4, a protein that controls gene expression in both T cells and tumor cells, effecting the immune system and the tumor. The company was formerly known as RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. in November 2018. Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. was incorporated in 2011 and is based in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

About Tharimmune

Tharimmune, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the development of therapeutic candidates for rare, inflammatory, and oncologic diseases. The company's pre-clinical immuno-oncology pipeline includes TH104, a product candidate for the treatment of liver-related and other pruritogenic inflammatory conditions; TH3215 and TH0059 that are product candidates used to treat various solid tumors; and TH1940, which targets programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). It has a research collaboration and product license agreement with Minotaur Therapeutics, Inc. for the development of proprietary targeted biologics; and Washington University in St. Louis for the rights to develop and commercialize technology related to multiple hybridomas and antibodies directed specifically towards human HER2. The company was formerly known as Hillstream BioPharma, Inc. and changed its name to Tharimmune, Inc. in September 2023. Tharimmune, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey.