Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO.B – Get Free Report) and BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ:BLFS – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and profitability.
Volatility & Risk
Bio-Rad Laboratories has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BioLife Solutions has a beta of 1.93, indicating that its share price is 93% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current recommendations for Bio-Rad Laboratories and BioLife Solutions, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| BioLife Solutions | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2.18 |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and BioLife Solutions”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | $2.58 billion | 3.78 | $759.90 million | $8.25 | 44.25 |
| BioLife Solutions | $96.21 million | 18.48 | -$4.59 million | $1.16 | 31.36 |
Bio-Rad Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than BioLife Solutions. BioLife Solutions is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bio-Rad Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
0.0% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are held by institutional investors. 28.4% of Bio-Rad Laboratories shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of BioLife Solutions shares are held 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.
Profitability
This table compares Bio-Rad Laboratories and BioLife Solutions’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | 8.59% | 3.54% | 2.48% |
| BioLife Solutions | 53.29% | 2.70% | 2.49% |
Summary
BioLife Solutions beats Bio-Rad Laboratories on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Bio-Rad Laboratories
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. manufactures, and distributes life science research and clinical diagnostic products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company operates through Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics segments. The Life Science segment develops, manufactures, and markets a range of reagents, apparatus, and laboratory instruments that are used in research techniques, biopharmaceutical production processes, and food testing regimes. It focuses on selected segments of the life sciences market in proteomics, genomics, biopharmaceutical production, cellular biology, and food safety. This segment serves universities and medical schools, industrial research organizations, government agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotechnology researchers, food producers, and food testing laboratories. The Clinical Diagnostics segment designs, manufactures, sells, and supports test systems, informatics systems, test kits, and specialized quality controls for clinical laboratories in the diagnostics market. This segment offers reagents, instruments, and software, which address specific niches within the in vitro diagnostics test market. It sells its products to reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, state newborn screening facilities, physicians' office laboratories, and transfusion laboratories. In addition, the company offers products and systems to separate complex chemical and biological materials, as well as to identify, analyze, and purify components. The company offers its products through its direct sales force, as well as through distributors, agents, brokers, and resellers. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Hercules, California.
About BioLife Solutions
BioLife Solutions, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy (CGT) industry in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company’s products are used in the basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. It offers proprietary biopreservation media products, including HypoThermosol FRS and CryoStor Freeze Media that are formulated to mitigate preservation-induced, delayed-onset cell damage and death; bioproduction tools, such as human platelet lysates for cell expansion and CellSeal closed system vials that are used in CGT; and the ThawSTAR line that comprises of a family of automated thawing devices for frozen cell and gene therapies packaged in cryovials and cryobags. The company also provides cryogenic freezer technology for controlled rate freezing and cryogenic storage of biologic materials; ultra-low temperature mechanical freezers; evo shipping containers that are cloud-connected passive storage and transport containers for temperature-sensitive biologics and pharmaceuticals; liquid nitrogen laboratory freezers, cryogenic equipment, and accessories; and biological and pharmaceutical storage and transport services. It markets and sells its products directly, as well as through third party distributors. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington.
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