Financial Contrast: BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) vs. Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH)

Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) and BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) are both large-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Guardant Health and BrightSpring Health Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Guardant Health	-38.33%	N/A	-25.40%
BrightSpring Health Services	2.55%	16.73%	5.24%

Volatility and Risk

Guardant Health has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrightSpring Health Services has a beta of 1.87, indicating that its share price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.6% of Guardant Health shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of Guardant Health shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of BrightSpring Health Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Guardant Health and BrightSpring Health Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Guardant Health	$1.18 billion	18.90	-$416.28 million	($3.49)	-47.75
BrightSpring Health Services	$12.91 billion	0.96	$190.67 million	$1.66	37.57

BrightSpring Health Services has higher revenue and earnings than Guardant Health. Guardant Health is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BrightSpring Health Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Guardant Health and BrightSpring Health Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Guardant Health	1	0	23	1	2.96
BrightSpring Health Services	0	2	16	1	2.95

Guardant Health currently has a consensus target price of $190.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.00%. BrightSpring Health Services has a consensus target price of $72.88, suggesting a potential upside of 16.86%. Given BrightSpring Health Services’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BrightSpring Health Services is more favorable than Guardant Health.

Summary

BrightSpring Health Services beats Guardant Health on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Guardant Health

Guardant Health, Inc., a precision oncology company, provides blood and tissue tests, data sets, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides Guardant360; Guardant360 LDT; Guardant360 CDx Test; Guardant360 Response Test; Guardant360 TissueNext Test; GuardantINFINITY Test; GuardantConnect, an integrated software-based solution designed for clinical and biopharmaceutical customers to connect patients tested with assays with actionable alterations with potentially relevant clinical studies; GuardantOMNI Test for advanced stage cancer; and GuardantINFORM, an in-silico research platform for tumor evolution and treatment resistance across various biomarker-driven cancers. It offers Shield Test; Guardant Reveal Test for adjuvant treatment selection in early-stage cancer patients; Smart Liquid Biopsy Platform; and Guardant Galaxy, an AI-backed digital pathology platform that helps improve cancer biomarker detection. In addition, the company offers development services, including companion diagnostic development and regulatory approval, clinical study setup, monitoring and maintenance, testing development and support, technologies licensing, and kits fulfillment. The company has a collaboration agreement with Illumina, Inc. for the sharing of specimen samples to advance cancer research. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

About BrightSpring Health Services

BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. operates a home and community-based healthcare services platform in the United States. The company's platform focuses on delivering pharmacy and provider services, including clinical and supportive care in home and community settings to Medicare, Medicaid, and insured populations. It serves patients through clinical providers and pharmacists. The company was formerly known as Phoenix Parent Holdings Inc. and changed its name to BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. in May 2021. BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.