The way to convert a string to a number is with Number, not parseFloat.
Number('1234') // 1234
Number('9BX9') // NaN
You can also use the unary plus operator if you like shorthand:
+'1234' // 1234
+'9BX9' // NaN
Be careful when checking against NaN (the operator === and !== don’t work as expected with NaN). Use:
isNaN(+maybeNumber) // returns true if NaN, otherwise false