Reviewing Decision Diagnostics (OTCMKTS:DECN) and Pulmonx (NASDAQ:LUNG)

Decision Diagnostics (OTCMKTS:DECN) and Pulmonx (NASDAQ:LUNG) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.0% of Pulmonx shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of Pulmonx shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Decision Diagnostics and Pulmonx, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Decision Diagnostics	0	0	0	0	0.00
Pulmonx	1	4	5	0	2.40

Pulmonx has a consensus price target of $6.81, suggesting a potential upside of 161.81%. Given Pulmonx’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pulmonx is more favorable than Decision Diagnostics.

Profitability

This table compares Decision Diagnostics and Pulmonx’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Decision Diagnostics	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pulmonx	-61.91%	-77.58%	-37.90%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Decision Diagnostics and Pulmonx”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Decision Diagnostics	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pulmonx	$83.79 million	1.28	-$56.39 million	($1.41)	-1.84

Decision Diagnostics has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Pulmonx.

Volatility & Risk

Decision Diagnostics has a beta of 0.22, meaning that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pulmonx has a beta of 0.22, meaning that its share price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Pulmonx beats Decision Diagnostics on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Decision Diagnostics

Decision Diagnostics Corp. develops smart phone based electronic medical record (EMR) technologies. The company offers prescription and non-prescription diagnostics; home testing products for the chronically ill; fulfillment services to direct to patient diabetes programs; and cell phone centric e-health products and technologies development services. It manufactures and distributes GenUltimate! glucose test strips, a Class II medical device for at-home use for the measurement of glucose; PetSure! glucose test strip for the glucose testing of dogs and cats designed to work with the Zoetis AlphaTrak and AlphaTrak II glucometers, a legacy meter; GenUltimate! 4Pets Glucose system, a proprietary glucose measuring system, including GenUltimate! 4Pets test strip and Avantage meter, for the testing of dogs, cats, and horses; and GenUltimate! Sure and GenUltimate! Precis test strips. In addition, it engages in the acquisition and holding of intellectual property including patents and trademarks and specialty manufacturing equipment. Further, the company also provides MD@Hand, an inpatient/outpatient management suite; Practice Probe, a data mining utility used to extract information from the physician's practice management system; and ResidenceWare, a residential management system that facilitates the relay of information from commercial and residential real estate management companies to occupying tenants using networking software systems and applications. Its EMR technologies are used by physicians at the point of care. The company was formerly known as InstaCare Corp. and changed its name to Decision Diagnostics Corp. in November 2011. Decision Diagnostics Corp. was founded in 2000 and is based in Westlake Village, California.

About Pulmonx

Pulmonx Corporation, a commercial-stage medical technology company, provides minimally invasive devices for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The company offers Zephyr Endobronchial Valve, a solution for the treatment of patients with hyperinflation associated with severe emphysema; and Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System, a balloon catheter and console system with flow and pressure sensors that are used to assess the presence of collateral ventilation. It also offers StratX Lung Analysis Platform, a cloud-based quantitative computed tomography analysis service that offers information on emphysema destruction, fissure completeness, and lobar volume to help identify target lobes for the treatment with Zephyr Valves. The company serves emphysema patients in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Pulmonx and changed its name to Pulmonx Corporation in December 2013. Pulmonx Corporation was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.