QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) & Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) Critical Contrast

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) and Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares QuidelOrtho and Exagen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
QuidelOrtho	-45.57%	4.25%	1.56%
Exagen	-29.49%	-94.37%	-28.96%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.0% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.3% of Exagen shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Exagen shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for QuidelOrtho and Exagen, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
QuidelOrtho	3	3	0	0	1.50
Exagen	1	0	8	0	2.78

QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus price target of $14.88, suggesting a potential upside of 5.27%. Exagen has a consensus price target of $9.25, suggesting a potential upside of 98.07%. Given Exagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Exagen is more favorable than QuidelOrtho.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares QuidelOrtho and Exagen”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
QuidelOrtho	$2.73 billion	0.35	-$1.13 billion	($17.82)	-0.79
Exagen	$66.57 million	1.69	-$19.95 million	($0.89)	-5.25

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

Volatility and Risk

QuidelOrtho has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exagen has a beta of 2.02, suggesting that its stock price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Exagen beats QuidelOrtho on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About QuidelOrtho

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions. The Transfusion Medicine business unit offers immunohematology instruments and tests used for blood typing to ensure patient-donor compatibility in blood transfusions; and donor screening instruments and tests used for blood and plasma screening for infectious diseases. The Point-of-Care business unit provides instruments and tests to provide rapid results across a continuum of point-of-care settings. The Molecular Diagnostics business unit offers polymerase chain reaction thermocyclers; amplification systems; and sample-to-result molecular instruments and tests for syndromic infectious disease diagnostics. The company sells its products directly to end users through a direct sales force; and through a network of distributors for professional use in physician offices, hospitals, clinical laboratories, reference laboratories, urgent care clinics, universities, retail clinics, pharmacies, wellness screening centers, blood banks, and donor centers, as well as for individual, non-professional, and over-the-counter use. It operates in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and internationally. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

About Exagen

Exagen Inc. develops and commercializes various testing products under the AVISE brand in the United States. The company enables healthcare providers to care for patients through the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its lead testing product is AVISE CTD that enables differential diagnosis for patients presenting with symptoms indicative of various connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and other related diseases with overlapping symptoms. The company offers AVISE Lupus that measures activation of the complement system by quantifying the level of B-cell C4d and erythrocyte bound C4d in the patient's blood; and AVISE APS, which consists of a panel of autoantibody tests that aids in the diagnosis and management of APS. In addition, it provides AVISE Vasculitis AAV, which utilizes a testing panel of individual analytes to provide physicians with results in the assessment and monitoring of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis; AVISE SLE Prognostic, a panel of autoantibodies for assessing the potential for complications affecting the kidney, brain, and cardiovascular system; and AVISE Anti-CarP test, which identifies RA patients with severe disease. Further, the company offers AVISE SLE Monitor, a biomarker blood test; AVISE MTX, a patented and validated blood test; and AVISE HCQ, a blood test to monitor levels of hydroxychloroquine. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Research Institute to develop novel patented biomarkers. The company was formerly known as Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and changed its name to Exagen Inc. in January 2019. Exagen Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Vista, California.