Reviewing Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) and Lucid Diagnostics (NASDAQ:LUCD)

Lucid Diagnostics (NASDAQ:LUCD) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lucid Diagnostics and Intuitive Surgical”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lucid Diagnostics	$4.35 million	34.50	-$45.53 million	($1.04)	-1.05
Intuitive Surgical	$8.35 billion	24.31	$2.32 billion	$7.56	74.92

Intuitive Surgical has higher revenue and earnings than Lucid Diagnostics. Lucid Diagnostics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Intuitive Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lucid Diagnostics and Intuitive Surgical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lucid Diagnostics	-1,418.39%	N/A	-96.99%
Intuitive Surgical	28.58%	15.08%	13.38%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.0% of Lucid Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.6% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of Lucid Diagnostics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Intuitive Surgical shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Lucid Diagnostics has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intuitive Surgical has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Lucid Diagnostics and Intuitive Surgical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lucid Diagnostics	1	0	4	0	2.60
Intuitive Surgical	1	8	16	2	2.70

Lucid Diagnostics presently has a consensus target price of $3.94, indicating a potential upside of 261.24%. Intuitive Surgical has a consensus target price of $611.08, indicating a potential upside of 7.90%. Given Lucid Diagnostics’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lucid Diagnostics is more favorable than Intuitive Surgical.

Summary

Intuitive Surgical beats Lucid Diagnostics on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lucid Diagnostics

Lucid Diagnostics Inc. operates as a commercial-stage medical diagnostics technology company in the United States. The company focuses on patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who are at risk of developing esophageal precancer and cancer, primarily highly lethal esophageal adenocarcinoma. Its flagship product, the EsoGuard Esophageal DNA Test performed on samples collected with the EsoCheck Esophageal Cell collection device, a testing tool with the goal of preventing EAC deaths through early detection of esophageal precancer in at-risk GERD patients. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in New York, New York. Lucid Diagnostics Inc. is a subsidiary of PAVmed Inc.

About Intuitive Surgical

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung. It also provides a suite of stapling, energy, and core instrumentation for its multi-port da Vinci surgical systems; progressive learning pathways to support the use of its technology; infrastructure of service and support specialists, a complement of services to its customers, including installation, repair, maintenance, 24/7 technical support, and proactive system health monitoring; and integrated digital capabilities providing connected offerings, streamlining performance for hospitals with program-enhancing insights. The company sells its products through direct sales organizations, such as capital and clinical sales teams. It has a collaboration agreement with FluoGuide A/S for head & neck cancer. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.