Head-To-Head Review: QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) & Avita Medical (NASDAQ:RCEL)

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) and Avita Medical (NASDAQ:RCEL) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast 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 Avita Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
QuidelOrtho	-14.24%	3.22%	1.03%
Avita Medical	-56.96%	N/A	-78.53%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for QuidelOrtho and Avita Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
QuidelOrtho	2	4	0	0	1.67
Avita Medical	1	1	5	0	2.57

QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus price target of $13.62, suggesting a potential upside of 13.60%. Avita Medical has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.85%. Given QuidelOrtho’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe QuidelOrtho is more favorable than Avita Medical.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.0% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.7% of Avita Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Avita Medical shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares QuidelOrtho and Avita Medical”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
QuidelOrtho	$2.73 billion	0.30	-$1.13 billion	($5.41)	-2.22
Avita Medical	$71.61 million	7.40	-$48.59 million	($1.18)	-14.59

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

Volatility & Risk

QuidelOrtho has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avita Medical has a beta of 2.03, suggesting that its share price is 103% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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 Avita Medical

AVITA Medical, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a regenerative medicine company in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product is the RECELL System, a cell harvesting device used for the treatment of thermal burn wounds, full-thickness skin defects, and repigmentation of stable depigmented vitiligo lesions. It develops RECELL GO to control the manual process of disaggregation, filtration, and soak time. The company was formerly known as AVITA Therapeutics, Inc. AVITA Medical, Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Valencia, California.