Head-To-Head Review: Labcorp (NYSE:LH) vs. SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU)

Labcorp (NYSE:LH) and SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Labcorp and SeaStar Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Labcorp	0	3	8	0	2.73
SeaStar Medical	1	0	0	0	1.00

Labcorp presently has a consensus target price of $307.20, indicating a potential upside of 14.25%. SeaStar Medical has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 29.59%. Given SeaStar Medical’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SeaStar Medical is more favorable than Labcorp.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Labcorp and SeaStar Medical”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Labcorp	$13.95 billion	1.58	$876.50 million	$10.46	25.71
SeaStar Medical	$1.23 million	15.02	-$12.15 million	($8.30)	-0.56

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.9% of Labcorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Labcorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Labcorp has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SeaStar Medical has a beta of -1.21, meaning that its share price is 221% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Labcorp and SeaStar Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Labcorp	6.28%	16.16%	7.62%
SeaStar Medical	-984.60%	-188.47%	-106.42%

Summary

Labcorp beats SeaStar Medical on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Labcorp

Labcorp Holdings, Inc. engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.

About SeaStar Medical

SeaStar Medical Holding Corporation, a medical device company, develops a platform therapy to reduce the consequences of hyperinflammation on vital organs in the United States. The company offers inflammatory response to fend off infections and repair damaged tissue in the body. It is also developing products in various therapeutic areas, including pediatric and adult acute kidney injury on CRRT; cardiorenal syndrome in congestive heart failure; myocardial stunning in end stage renal disease; and hepatorenal syndrome. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.