Comparing BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS) & QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for BioLife Solutions and QuidelOrtho, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BioLife Solutions	1	0	3	1	2.80
QuidelOrtho	3	2	1	0	1.67

BioLife Solutions currently has a consensus target price of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 44.21%. QuidelOrtho has a consensus target price of $28.25, suggesting a potential upside of 119.16%. Given QuidelOrtho’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe QuidelOrtho is more favorable than BioLife Solutions.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.0% of QuidelOrtho shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of QuidelOrtho shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

BioLife Solutions has a beta of 2, suggesting that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, QuidelOrtho has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BioLife Solutions	-4.50%	1.71%	1.54%
QuidelOrtho	-41.46%	5.91%	2.37%

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BioLife Solutions	$96.21 million	11.14	-$4.59 million	($0.11)	-201.73
QuidelOrtho	$2.73 billion	0.32	-$1.13 billion	($16.66)	-0.77

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

Summary

BioLife Solutions beats QuidelOrtho on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BioLife Solutions

BioLife Solutions, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company’s products are used in the basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. It offers proprietary biopreservation media products, including HypoThermosol FRS and CryoStor Freeze Media that are formulated to mitigate preservation-induced, delayed-onset cell damage and death; bioproduction tools, such as human platelet lysates for cell expansion and CellSeal closed system vials that are used in CGT; and the ThawSTAR line that comprises of a family of automated thawing devices for frozen cell and gene therapies packaged in cryovials and cryobags. The company also provides cryogenic freezer technology for controlled rate freezing and cryogenic storage of biologic materials; ultra-low temperature mechanical freezers; evo shipping containers that are cloud-connected passive storage and transport containers for temperature-sensitive biologics and pharmaceuticals; liquid nitrogen laboratory freezers, cryogenic equipment, and accessories; and biological and pharmaceutical storage and transport services. It markets and sells its products directly, as well as through third party distributors. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.

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.