Financial Analysis: Salarius Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SLRX) vs. ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ASLN)

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

Volatility and Risk

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Salarius Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Salarius Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	$12.00 million	0.10	-$44.22 million	($21.92)	-0.03
Salarius Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$12.54 million	($7.07)	-0.12

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Salarius Pharmaceuticals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Salarius Pharmaceuticals	0	0	0	0	0.00

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus target price of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11,900.00%. Given ASLAN Pharmaceuticals’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe ASLAN Pharmaceuticals is more favorable than Salarius Pharmaceuticals.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

58.8% of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.9% of Salarius Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Salarius Pharmaceuticals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares ASLAN Pharmaceuticals and Salarius Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-8,454.87%	-121.60%
Salarius Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-140.28%	-105.76%

Summary

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals beats Salarius Pharmaceuticals on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ASLAN Pharmaceuticals

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Limited, a clinical-stage immunology focused biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing various treatments to transform the lives of patients. The company's clinical portfolio comprises eblasakimab (ASLAN004), a monoclonal antibody that targets the IL-13 receptor a1 subunit which is under Phase 2 developed for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and other immunology indications; and farudodstat (ASLAN003), an orally active, potent inhibitor of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase currently under Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. It has research collaboration agreement with Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of eblasakimab in atopic dermatitis and all other indications in Japan. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Singapore.

About Salarius Pharmaceuticals

Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing treatments for cancers with unmet medical need. Its lead candidate is Seclidemstat (SP-2577), a small molecular inhibitor which is in Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, as well as Ewing sarcoma. The company also offers SP-3164, a small molecular protein degrader for the treatment of hematological and solid tumors. It has a strategic partnership with The University of Utah Research Foundation for the exclusive license with respect to patent rights protecting SP-2577 and related compounds and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for product development activities. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.