Elutia (NASDAQ:ELUT) versus QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Head to Head Analysis

Elutia (NASDAQ:ELUT) and QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.0% of Elutia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.0% of QuidelOrtho shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.8% of Elutia shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of QuidelOrtho shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elutia	426.93%	-407.37%	-47.08%
QuidelOrtho	-39.20%	4.88%	1.63%

Risk & Volatility

Elutia has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, QuidelOrtho has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Elutia and QuidelOrtho, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elutia	1	0	0	0	1.00
QuidelOrtho	2	4	0	0	1.67

QuidelOrtho has a consensus target price of $13.62, indicating a potential downside of 3.23%. Given QuidelOrtho’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe QuidelOrtho is more favorable than Elutia.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elutia	$12.29 million	2.97	$53.38 million	$0.95	0.87
QuidelOrtho	$2.67 billion	0.36	-$1.13 billion	($15.41)	-0.91

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

About Elutia

Elutia Inc., a commercial-stage company, develops and commercializes drug-eluting biologics products for neurostimulation, wound care, and breast reconstruction in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Device Protection; Women's Health; and Cardiovascular. It offers CanGaroo Envelope, which is used to accommodate cardiac implantable electronic devices, such as pacemakers and internal defibrillators. The company also develops CanGarooRM, a combination of the CanGaroo envelope with antibiotics, to reduce the risk of infection after surgical implantation of an electronic device. In addition, it provides ProxiCor for cardiac tissue repair and pericardial closure; Tyke, an extracellular material that is used in the repair of cardiac structures for neonate and infant patients; and VasCure, a patch material to repair or reconstruct the peripheral vasculature. Further, the company offers SimpliDerm, which uses human acellular dermal matrices for tissue repair and reconstruction in various applications, such as sports medicine, hernia repair, trauma reconstruction, and breast reconstruction surgeries following mastectomy. It serves hospitals and healthcare facilities through its direct sales force, independent sales agents, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Aziyo Biologics, Inc. and changed its name to Elutia Inc. in September 2023. Elutia Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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.