Reviewing Bioventus (NYSE:BVS) and Carmell (NASDAQ:CTCX)

Carmell (NASDAQ:CTCX) and Bioventus (NYSE:BVS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.2% of Carmell shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.9% of Bioventus shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.0% of Carmell shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 32.9% of Bioventus 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

Carmell has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bioventus has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Carmell and Bioventus’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carmell	N/A	N/A	-$15.44 million	N/A	N/A
Bioventus	$512.34 million	1.02	-$156.23 million	($0.35)	-18.80

Carmell has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Bioventus.

Profitability

This table compares Carmell and Bioventus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carmell	N/A	-171.27%	-22.94%
Bioventus	-4.14%	11.91%	3.29%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Carmell and Bioventus, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carmell	0	0	0	0	N/A
Bioventus	0	0	3	0	3.00

Bioventus has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.58%. Given Bioventus’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bioventus is more favorable than Carmell.

Summary

Bioventus beats Carmell on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carmell

Carmell Corporation operates as a bio-aesthetics company. The company utilizes Carmell Secretome to support skin and hair health. Its Carmell Secretome consists of growth factors and proteins extracted from allogeneic human platelets sourced from tissue banks. The company also developed a microemulsion formulation that enables delivery of lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients without relying on the Foul Fourteen, 14 potentially harmful excipients that are commonly used by other companies to impart texture, stability, and other desirable physicochemical attributes to cosmetic products. In addition, the company is also developing a line of men's products and a line of topical haircare products. It has licensing agreement with Carnegie Mellon University to develop and commercialize biocompatible plasma-based plastics. The company was formerly known as Carmell Therapeutics Corporation and changed its name to Carmell Corporation in November 2023. Carmell Therapeutics Corporation was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Bioventus

Bioventus Inc., a medical device company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments that engage and enhance the body's natural healing process in the United States and internationally. The company's product portfolio includes pain treatments, which comprise non-surgical pain injection therapies, as well as peripheral nerve stimulation products, such as Durolane, GELSYN-3, and SUPARTZ for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and Stimrouter to treat chronic peripheral pain. Its surgical solutions comprise bone graft substitutes that increase bone formation to stimulate bone healing in spinal fusions and other orthopedic surgeries; and ultrasonic products used for precise bone cutting and sculpting, soft tissue management, and tissue debridement, in various surgeries, including minimally invasive applications. The company's product include, Osteoamp, an allograft-derived bone graft for bone grafting procedures; Exponent matrix for posterolateral spine procedures; Purebone for bone grafting procedures; Signafuse bone graft; Interfuse bone graft; Osteomatrix+ synthetic bone graft; Extractor for autologous cell and bone marrow extraction; reficio bone matrix; nexus ultrasonic surgical system; bonescalpel surgical solution; SonaStar for surgical procedures; and SonicOne ultrasonic cleansing and debridement system. The company's restorative therapies include a bone stimulation system and devices to help patients regain leg or hand function due to stroke, multiple sclerosis, or other central nervous system disorders. Its products include exogen, a bone healing system; L300 GO, a foot drop system; H200 rehabilitation system; Vector, a body weight support system; and Bioness integrated therapy system. It developing Talisman pulse generator and receiver for peripheral nerve stimulation. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.