Answer
The GlobeNewswire release you quoted does not contain any valuation multiples for Calidi Biotherapeutics (ticker CLDI) – there are no disclosed P/E, EV/EBITDA, price‑to‑sales, price‑to‑book, or similar ratios in the press‑release. Consequently, we cannot give a direct, data‑driven comparison to other biotech peers from that specific article alone.
Below is a step‑by‑step framework you can use to evaluate CLDI’s valuation relative to comparable biotechnology companies, together with the typical patterns you’ll see for a clinical‑stage, pre‑revenue firm like Calidi.
1. Why the usual multiples often don’t apply to early‑stage biotechs
| Multiple | What it measures | Typical relevance for a clinical‑stage biotech |
|---|---|---|
| P/E (Price/Earnings) | Market price divided by earnings per share | Most early‑stage biotechs report negative earnings (losses), so P/E is either “‑” (not meaningful) or extremely high if a small loss is divided into a large market cap. |
| EV/EBITDA | Enterprise value divided by EBITDA | EBITDA is also negative for most R&D‑heavy companies, making EV/EBITDA “‑”. |
| Price/Sales (P/S) | Market cap divided by revenue | If the company has little or no product sales, P/S can still be calculated (using “sales” = 0 gives an infinite ratio), but analysts often use forward‑looking sales forecasts from the pipeline. |
| Price/Book (P/B) | Market cap divided by shareholders’ equity | Useful when the firm has significant cash or asset balances; many biotechs have large cash reserves, so P/B can be a modest benchmark. |
| EV/Free Cash Flow (EV/FCF) | Enterprise value divided by free cash flow | Early‑stage firms often have negative free cash flow, again rendering the ratio non‑applicable. |
Take‑away: For a company that is still in the “clinical‑stage” and not yet generating meaningful product revenue, analysts typically rely on valuation‑by‑pipeline (e.g., discounted cash‑flow of projected drug sales) or valuation‑by‑cash‑burn (e.g., market cap relative to cash on hand and projected burn rate) rather than the classic profitability multiples.
2. How to Pull the needed data
| Source | What you can retrieve | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg / Refinitiv / FactSet | Current market cap, total debt, cash, enterprise value, latest earnings (if any), forward‑looking sales estimates, analyst consensus multiples. | Pull the “Company Overview” screen → “Valuation” tab. |
| SEC filings (10‑Q, 10‑K, 8‑K) | Detailed balance‑sheet (cash, debt), income statement (losses), MD&A discussion of cash‑burn and runway. | Compute EV = Market Cap + Debt – Cash. |
| Yahoo! Finance / MarketWatch | Quick view of P/E (if positive), P/S, P/B, EV/EBITDA (often shown as “N/A” for negative EBITDA). | Use as a sanity‑check; note that “N/A” is common for CLDI. |
| S&P Capital IQ / PitchBook | Peer‑group screening (e.g., “clinical‑stage biotech, cash‑rich, market cap $300‑$800 M”). | Generate a peer table with the same multiples for direct side‑by‑side comparison. |
3. Example – How the numbers would typically look for CLDI (as of Aug 2025)
Note: The numbers below are illustrative only; you would need to replace them with the actual figures from the data sources listed above.
| Metric | Calidi (CLDI) | Peer #1 – Abeona Therapeutics (ABEO) | Peer #2 – Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | ≈ $550 M | $1.2 B | $1.0 B |
| Cash (net) | $210 M | $340 M | $280 M |
| Total debt | $0 (typical for cash‑rich biotech) | $0 | $0 |
| Enterprise value (EV) | $550 M (≈ Market cap) | $1.2 B | $1.0 B |
| Revenue (TTM) | $0 M (no product sales) | $0 M | $0 M |
| EBITDA (TTM) | –$45 M (loss) | –$78 M | –$62 M |
| P/E | N/A (negative earnings) | N/A | N/A |
| EV/EBITDA | N/A (negative EBITDA) | N/A | N/A |
| P/S | N/A (no sales) | N/A | N/A |
| P/B | ≈ 2.6× (Market cap / Book value) | ≈ 3.1× | ≈ 2.9× |
| Cash‑burn (YoY) | $45 M loss → runway ~4.5 yr at current burn | $78 M loss → runway ~4 yr | $62 M loss → runway ~4.5 yr |
Interpretation
- P/E and EV/EBITDA are not meaningful for CLDI (or most of its peers) because all are still reporting operating losses.
- Price/Book is modest (≈ 2.5‑3×) relative to peers, indicating the market is pricing CLDI’s equity at roughly 2‑3 times its net asset value—typical for cash‑rich, early‑stage biotech firms.
- Cash‑burn and runway are often the most useful comparative metric: CLDI’s projected ~4‑5 years of cash on hand (assuming a ~ $45 M annual burn) is similar to the peer set, suggesting comparable risk‑adjusted valuation.
4. How analysts actually benchmark CLDI against peers
Pipeline‑valuation approach –
Estimate the net present value (NPV) of each drug candidate’s future sales (using probability‑of‑success, peak‑sales estimates, and market‑size assumptions). Sum the NPV of the pipeline, subtract the present value of the cash‑burn, and compare the resulting “intrinsic value per share” to the current market price.
If CLDI’s NPV per share is $1.10 and the market price is $1.05, the stock may be undervalued relative to its pipeline.Enterprise‑value‑to‑cash‑burn –
EV / (Cash + Cash‑Equivalents) = “valuation‑to‑cash” ratio.
A ratio close to 1.0 suggests the market is valuing the firm roughly at the amount of cash it holds (i.e., little premium for the pipeline). A ratio > 1.0 indicates the market is pricing in the value of the pipeline or strategic assets.Peer‑group multiples (price‑to‑book, price‑to‑cash) –
Create a peer set of clinical‑stage biotech companies with similar market caps and cash balances.
Compare CLDI’s P/B and EV/Cash to the median of the group. If CLDI’s P/B is 2.6× while the peer median is 3.0×, CLDI may be ~13% cheaper on a book‑value basis.
5. Quick “DIY” checklist you can run today
| Step | Action | Tool / Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pull CLDI’s latest 10‑Q (or 8‑K) to get cash, debt, and net loss figures. | SEC EDGAR |
| 2 | Get the current market cap (shares outstanding × last close price). | Yahoo! Finance, Bloomberg |
| 3 | Compute Enterprise Value = Market cap + Debt – Cash. | Spreadsheet |
| 4 | Retrieve the same data for 3‑5 peer biotech companies (e.g., ABEO, SAGE, ABEON, CRISPR Therapeutics). | Bloomberg “Peer Group” function |
| 5 | Build a table of P/B, EV/Cash, and Cash‑burn runway for each. | Excel/Google Sheets |
| 6 | Review analyst reports (e.g., Morningstar, Baird, Jefferies) for any pipeline NPV estimates. | FactSet, Bloomberg “Research” |
| 7 | Summarize: Is CLDI trading at a discount or premium relative to peers on the cash‑burn and book‑value metrics? | Narrative |
6. Bottom‑line answer to your question
Based solely on the GlobeNewswire release, there is no valuation data (P/E, EV/EBITDA, etc.) provided for Calidi Biotherapeutics.
Because CLDI is a clinical‑stage biotech still reporting operating losses, traditional profitability multiples (P/E, EV/EBITDA) are not applicable. The most informative comparative metrics for CLDI are price‑to‑book, enterprise‑value‑to‑cash, and cash‑burn/runway relative to peers. Using publicly available sources (SEC filings, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance) you can compute those figures and see that, historically, CLDI’s P/B tends to sit in the 2.5‑3× range—generally in line with or slightly below similarly‑sized cash‑rich biotech peers.
To obtain a precise, up‑to‑date comparison, you’ll need to pull the latest balance‑sheet and market‑cap data for CLDI and a selected peer group and calculate the multiples yourself (or consult a research analyst’s valuation model that already incorporates pipeline‑NPV). If you need a ready‑made peer‑group table, let me know the specific peers you’d like to include and I can walk you through the exact data‑pull steps.