LifeStance Health Group (LFST) Competitors

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) and Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH) are both medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and profitability.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of LFST or GH?

85.5% of LifeStance Health Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of Guardant Health shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of LifeStance Health Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of Guardant Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer LFST or GH?

In the previous week, Guardant Health had 7 more articles in the media than LifeStance Health Group. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Guardant Health and 3 mentions for LifeStance Health Group. LifeStance Health Group's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat Guardant Health's score of 0.87 indicating that LifeStance Health Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
LifeStance Health Group	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Guardant Health	3 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, LFST or GH?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LifeStance Health Group	$1.25B	1.51	-$57.44M	-$0.10	-48.55
Guardant Health	$739.02M	8.55	-$436.37M	-$3.39	-15.04

Do analysts prefer LFST or GH?

LifeStance Health Group currently has a consensus target price of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 75.08%. Guardant Health has a consensus target price of $53.76, suggesting a potential upside of 5.45%. Given LifeStance Health Group's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LifeStance Health Group is more favorable than Guardant Health.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LifeStance Health Group	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Guardant Health	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	21 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is LFST or GH more profitable?

LifeStance Health Group has a net margin of -2.78% compared to Guardant Health's net margin of -53.82%. Guardant Health's return on equity of 0.00% beat LifeStance Health Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LifeStance Health Group	-2.78%	-2.47%	-1.69%
Guardant Health	-53.82%	N/A	-26.77%

Which has more volatility & risk, LFST or GH?

LifeStance Health Group has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Guardant Health has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

LifeStance Health Group beats Guardant Health on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.