Head to Head Survey: STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) & Spotlight Innovation (OTCMKTS:STLT)

Spotlight Innovation (OTCMKTS:STLT) and STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Spotlight Innovation and STAAR Surgical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spotlight Innovation	0	0	0	0	0.00
STAAR Surgical	1	10	0	0	1.91

STAAR Surgical has a consensus price target of $23.42, indicating a potential downside of 6.85%. Given Spotlight Innovation’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Spotlight Innovation is more favorable than STAAR Surgical.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Spotlight Innovation and STAAR Surgical”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spotlight Innovation	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
STAAR Surgical	$313.90 million	3.98	-$20.21 million	($1.95)	-12.89

Spotlight Innovation has higher earnings, but lower revenue than STAAR Surgical.

Profitability

This table compares Spotlight Innovation and STAAR Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spotlight Innovation	N/A	N/A	N/A
STAAR Surgical	-41.79%	-16.06%	-12.40%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.7% of STAAR Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of STAAR Surgical shares are owned 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.

About Spotlight Innovation

Spotlight Innovation Inc., a pharmaceutical company, acquires and develops proprietary therapies to address unmet medical needs with an emphasis on rare, emerging, and neglected diseases. It identifies in-licensing opportunities and manages product development through partnerships with universities, medical schools, contract research organizations, and contract manufacturing organizations, as well as pursues product commercialization opportunities, including out-licensing and strategic partnerships. The company is developing Crotoxin, which is in Phase I clinical study for the treatment of cancer. It also develops various compounds for the treatment of viral infections, including Zika virus infection; and products derived from cobra venom to treat chronic pain. Spotlight Innovation Inc. has a license agreement with Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation to commercialize STL-182, an orally-available small molecule that might have therapeutic potential for treating spinal muscular atrophy. The company is based in Urbandale, Iowa.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells implantable lenses for the eye, and companion delivery systems to deliver the lenses into the eye. The company provides implantable Collamer lens product family (ICLs) to treat visual disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. It markets its products to health care providers, including ophthalmic surgeons, vision and surgical centers, hospitals, government facilities, and distributors, as well as products are primarily used by ophthalmologists. The company sells its products directly through its sales representatives in the United States, Japan, Germany, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore, as well as through own representatives and independent distributors in China, Korea, India, France, Benelux, Italy, and internationally. STAAR Surgical Company was incorporated in 1982 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, California.