Comparing Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ:SWAV) & Pro-Dex (NASDAQ:PDEX)

Pro-Dex (NASDAQ:PDEX) and Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ:SWAV) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pro-Dex and Shockwave Medical’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pro-Dex	$46.09 million	1.42	$7.07 million	$0.75	24.91
Shockwave Medical	$730.23 million	16.90	$147.28 million	$3.87	85.27

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.3% of Pro-Dex shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.4% of Shockwave Medical shares are owned by institutional investors. 42.6% of Pro-Dex shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Shockwave Medical shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Pro-Dex has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shockwave Medical has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Pro-Dex and Shockwave Medical, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pro-Dex	0	0	0	0	N/A
Shockwave Medical	0	10	1	0	2.09

Shockwave Medical has a consensus price target of $309.11, suggesting a potential downside of 6.33%. Given Shockwave Medical’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Shockwave Medical is more favorable than Pro-Dex.

Profitability

This table compares Pro-Dex and Shockwave Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pro-Dex	5.59%	8.97%	5.40%
Shockwave Medical	20.17%	23.97%	12.78%

Summary

Shockwave Medical beats Pro-Dex on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pro-Dex

Pro-Dex, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells powered surgical instruments for medical device original equipment manufacturers worldwide. The company offers autoclavable, battery-powered and electric, and multi-function surgical drivers and shavers that are primarily used in the orthopedic, thoracic, and craniomaxillofacial markets. It also provides engineering, quality, and regulatory consulting services; and manufactures and sells rotary air motors to various industries. The company's products are used in hospitals, medical engineering labs, scientific research facilities, and high-tech manufacturing operations. Pro-Dex, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

About Shockwave Medical

Shockwave Medical, Inc., a medical device company, develops and commercializes intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology for the treatment of calcified plaque in patients with peripheral and coronary vascular, and heart valve diseases in the United States and internationally. The company offers products for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD), including M5 IVL catheter and M5+ IVL catheter, which are five-emitter catheters used in IVL system in medium-diameter vessels; S4 IVL catheter, a four-emitter catheter for use in IVL system in small-diameter vessels; and L6 IVL catheter, a six-emitter catheter used for IVL System in large diameter vessels. It also provides product for the treatment of coronary artery disease, such as C2 IVL catheter and C2+IVL catheter that are two-emitter catheters for use in IVL system; and Reducer, a device to treat refractory angina. In addition, the company develops COSIRA-II trial; shockwave C2 Aero, a coronary IVL catheter; shockwave javelin coronary, a non-balloon-based catheter platform to treat of tight, difficult-to-cross coronary lesions; shockwave L6; shockwave E8 catheter, to target long peripheral artery lesions; shockwave javelin peripheral, a non-balloon-based catheter platform, to treat tight, difficult-to-cross peripheral lesions. Further, it offers shockwave carotid IVL, a purpose-built IVL System to treat calcified carotid artery lesions; and Shockwave Crescendo, a platform developed to treat calcified, stenotic heart valves. It serves interventional cardiologists, vascular surgeons, and interventional radiologists through sales representatives and managers, and distributors. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.