FibroGen (FGEN) Competitors

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) and FibroGen (NASDAQ:FGEN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Does the media prefer PLRX or FGEN?

In the previous week, FibroGen had 10 more articles in the media than Pliant Therapeutics. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for FibroGen and 5 mentions for Pliant Therapeutics. FibroGen's average media sentiment score of 0.26 beat Pliant Therapeutics' score of 0.08 indicating that FibroGen is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Pliant Therapeutics	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
FibroGen	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community favor PLRX or FGEN?

FibroGen received 269 more outperform votes than Pliant Therapeutics when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 69.72% of users gave Pliant Therapeutics an outperform vote while only 59.90% of users gave FibroGen an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Pliant Therapeutics	Outperform Votes 76 69.72%	Underperform Votes 33 30.28%
FibroGen	Outperform Votes 345 59.90%	Underperform Votes 231 40.10%

Which has more volatility and risk, PLRX or FGEN?

Pliant Therapeutics has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FibroGen has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, PLRX or FGEN?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pliant Therapeutics	$1.58M	118.63	-$161.34M	-$3.34	-0.92
FibroGen	$147.75M	0.48	-$284.23M	-$1.23	-0.57

Is PLRX or FGEN more profitable?

Pliant Therapeutics has a net margin of 0.00% compared to FibroGen's net margin of -67.66%. FibroGen's return on equity of 0.00% beat Pliant Therapeutics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pliant Therapeutics	N/A	-48.91%	-41.09%
FibroGen	-67.66%	N/A	-36.17%

Do analysts rate PLRX or FGEN?

Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus price target of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 476.30%. FibroGen has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,316.63%. Given FibroGen's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe FibroGen is more favorable than Pliant Therapeutics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pliant Therapeutics	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.45
FibroGen	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Do institutionals & insiders believe in PLRX or FGEN?

97.3% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of FibroGen shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Pliant Therapeutics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of FibroGen shares are held by 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.

Summary

FibroGen beats Pliant Therapeutics on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.