Reviewing Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) & Pulse Biosciences (NASDAQ:PLSE)

Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) and Pulse Biosciences (NASDAQ:PLSE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nevro and Pulse Biosciences’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nevro	$425.17 million	0.78	-$92.21 million	($2.29)	-3.95
Pulse Biosciences	$700,000.00	1,296.99	-$42.21 million	($0.81)	-18.31

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

Risk & Volatility

Nevro has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pulse Biosciences has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.5% of Nevro shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.0% of Pulse Biosciences shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Nevro shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 71.5% of Pulse Biosciences shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Nevro and Pulse Biosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nevro	2	10	0	0	1.83
Pulse Biosciences	0	0	0	0	N/A

Nevro presently has a consensus target price of $14.11, suggesting a potential upside of 55.90%. Given Nevro’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Nevro is more favorable than Pulse Biosciences.

Profitability

This table compares Nevro and Pulse Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nevro	-19.17%	-27.48%	-13.40%
Pulse Biosciences	N/A	-86.15%	-66.87%

About Nevro

Nevro Corp., a medical device company, engages in the provision of products for patients suffering from chronic pain in the United States and internationally. The company provides HFX spinal cord stimulation (SCS) platform, which includes the Senza SCS implantable pulse generator (IPG) system, an evidence-based neuromodulation system for the treatment of chronic back and leg pain through paresthesia-free 10 kHz therapy, as well as offers Senza II and Senza Omnia SCS IPG systems. It also offers Senza HFX iQ platform, that includes HFX iQ implantable pulse generator, HFX trial stimulator, and HFX iQ patient remote, as well as HFX App, a patient remote control and the wireless trialing system; and provides sacroiliac joint fusion devices under NevroV1, NevroFix, and NevroPro brands. In addition, the company offers surpass surgical and percutaneous leads. It sells its products through its direct sales force, and a network of sales agents and independent distributors. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

About Pulse Biosciences

Pulse Biosciences, Inc. operates as a novel bioelectric medicine company. The company offers CellFX System, a tunable, software-enabled, and console-based platform that delivers nano second duration pulses of electrical energy to non-thermally clear targeted cells while sparing adjacent non-cellular tissue to treat a various medical condition by using its Nano-Pulse Stimulation technology. The company was formerly known as Electroblate, Inc. and changed its name to Pulse Biosciences, Inc. in December 2015. Pulse Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.