Comparing GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) and LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD)

LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD) and GeneDx (NASDAQ:WGS) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for LifeMD and GeneDx, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LifeMD	1	1	8	0	2.70
GeneDx	1	1	7	0	2.67

LifeMD presently has a consensus target price of $7.57, suggesting a potential upside of 208.41%. GeneDx has a consensus target price of $90.86, suggesting a potential upside of 29.50%. Given LifeMD’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe LifeMD is more favorable than GeneDx.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.5% of LifeMD shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.7% of GeneDx shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.2% of LifeMD shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 25.2% of GeneDx shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares LifeMD and GeneDx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LifeMD	0.10%	-168.23%	-31.27%
GeneDx	-23.41%	4.12%	2.26%

Volatility & Risk

LifeMD has a beta of 1.99, suggesting that its share price is 99% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GeneDx has a beta of 1.95, suggesting that its share price is 95% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares LifeMD and GeneDx”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LifeMD	$191.59 million	0.62	$14.35 million	($0.05)	-49.10
GeneDx	$427.54 million	4.89	-$21.02 million	($3.64)	-19.27

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

About LifeMD

LifeMD, Inc. operates as a direct-to-patient telehealth company that connects consumers to healthcare professionals for medical care in the United States. The company offers telehealth platform comprising RexMD, a men's telehealth brand that provides access to virtual medical treatment for a variety of men's health needs from licensed physician; ShapiroMD that provides virtual medical treatment, prescription medications, patented doctor formulated OTC products, topical compounded medications, and medical devices treating male and female hair loss; NavaMD, a female-oriented tele-dermatology that offers virtual medical treatment from dermatologists and other providers; and prescription oral and compounded topical medications to treat aging and acne; and Cleared which provides personalized treatments for allergy, asthma and immunology, including in-home tests for both environmental and food allergies, prescriptions for allergies and asthma and immunotherapies for treating chronic allergies. It also provides LifeMD PC, a direct-to-consumer virtual primary care which includes 24/7 access to a provider for their primary care, urgent care, and chronic care needs; and offers virtual consultations and treatment, prescription medications, diagnostics and imaging, wellness coaching, and more. In addition, the company offers PDFSimpli, an online software as a service platform that allows users to create, edit, convert, sign, and share PDF documents; ResumeBuild which provides digital resume and cover letter services; SignSimpli, a digital signature platform; and LegalSimpli, a provider of legal forms for consumers and small businesses. It sells its products directly to consumers and through e-commerce platforms, as well as through third party partner channels. The company was formerly known as Conversion Labs, Inc. and changed its name to LifeMD, Inc. in February 2021. LifeMD, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About GeneDx

GeneDx Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides genomics-related diagnostic and information services. The company offers Centrellis, an AI-driven health intelligence platform that integrates digital tools and artificial intelligence allowing scientists to ingest and synthesize clinical and genomic data to deliver comprehensive health insights. It provides genetic diagnostic tests, screening solutions, and information with a focus on pediatrics, rare diseases for children and adults, and hereditary cancer screening. GeneDx Holdings Corp. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.