Critical Comparison: Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) vs. Acutus Medical (NASDAQ:AFIB)

Acutus Medical (NASDAQ:AFIB) and Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Acutus Medical and Glaukos”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acutus Medical	$7.16 million	0.01	-$81.66 million	N/A	N/A
Glaukos	$404.52 million	14.02	-$134.66 million	($2.37)	-41.88

Acutus Medical has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Glaukos.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Acutus Medical and Glaukos, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acutus Medical	0	0	0	0	0.00
Glaukos	1	1	10	0	2.75

Glaukos has a consensus target price of $134.67, suggesting a potential upside of 35.69%. Given Glaukos’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Glaukos is more favorable than Acutus Medical.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

56.9% of Acutus Medical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.0% of Glaukos shares are held by institutional investors. 5.2% of Acutus Medical shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of Glaukos shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Acutus Medical has a beta of -0.35, suggesting that its stock price is 135% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Glaukos has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Acutus Medical and Glaukos’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acutus Medical	-272.74%	-311.64%	-11.57%
Glaukos	-39.04%	-16.53%	-10.61%

Summary

Glaukos beats Acutus Medical on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acutus Medical

Acutus Medical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets various tools for catheter-based ablation procedures to treat various arrhythmias in the United States and internationally. Its product portfolio includes novel access sheaths, transseptal crossing tools, diagnostic and mapping catheters, conventional and contact ablation catheters, and mapping and imaging consoles and accessories, as well as supporting algorithms and software programs. Acutus Medical, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

About Glaukos

Glaukos Corporation, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical technology company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases. It offers iStent and iStent inject W micro-bypass stents that enhance aqueous humor outflow inserted in cataract surgery to treat mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma. The company's product pipeline includes iStent Infinite indicated for use in the treatment of patients with glaucoma uncontrolled by prior medical and surgical therapy; and iDose TR, an intracameral procedural pharmaceutical therapy indicated for the reduction of intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. The company markets its products through direct sales organization, as well as through distributors in the United States and internationally. Glaukos Corporation was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.