Moody’s downgrades Senegal to Caa1 amid rising debt concerns
Investing.com - JPMorgan has downgraded Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from Neutral to Underweight on Friday, as the stock trades near $1.54, down about 87% over the past year. According to InvestingPro data, the company currently appears undervalued based on its Fair Value analysis.
The downgrade follows the discontinuation of the company’s bexotegrast program for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) earlier this year, which has left the company’s strategic direction uncertain. While the company maintains a strong liquidity position with a current ratio of 13x and more cash than debt, InvestingPro analysis shows the company is quickly burning through its cash reserves.
JPMorgan noted that Pliant Therapeutics is considering multiple strategic options, including in-licensing new clinical-stage assets, revitalizing its research and development portfolio, merging with another biotech company, or returning remaining capital to shareholders.
The investment bank indicated that Pliant’s outlook remains in a "holding pattern" until the company’s next strategic steps become clear.
The firm believes the company’s story "has remained in limbo" since the IPF program discontinuation, contributing to the rating downgrade.
In other recent news, Pliant Therapeutics has seen a significant change in analyst projections. Piper Sandler, a research firm, has lowered its price target for Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00. Despite this reduction, the firm maintained an Overweight rating on the stock. This adjustment comes after Pliant Therapeutics decided to discontinue the development of bexotegrast for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The decision followed a comprehensive analysis of safety and efficacy data from the Phase 2b/3 BEACON-IPF trial. Complete results from this trial are anticipated to be submitted for future publication. These developments represent the latest updates surrounding Pliant Therapeutics.
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