QuidelOrtho (QDEL) Competitors

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) and Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ:MMSI) are both mid-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, media sentiment and community ranking.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, QDEL or MMSI?

Merit Medical Systems has lower revenue, but higher earnings than QuidelOrtho. QuidelOrtho is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Merit Medical Systems, 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
QuidelOrtho	$2.76B	0.79	-$2.03B	-$4.97	-6.52
Merit Medical Systems	$1.39B	4.21	$94.41M	$2.04	48.44

Does the media prefer QDEL or MMSI?

In the previous week, Merit Medical Systems had 22 more articles in the media than QuidelOrtho. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Merit Medical Systems and 8 mentions for QuidelOrtho. QuidelOrtho's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Merit Medical Systems' score of 0.98 indicating that QuidelOrtho is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
QuidelOrtho	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Merit Medical Systems	14 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate QDEL or MMSI?

QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus price target of $44.33, suggesting a potential upside of 36.92%. Merit Medical Systems has a consensus price target of $108.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.98%. Given QuidelOrtho's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe QuidelOrtho is more favorable than Merit Medical Systems.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
QuidelOrtho	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Merit Medical Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is QDEL or MMSI more profitable?

Merit Medical Systems has a net margin of 9.05% compared to QuidelOrtho's net margin of -72.84%. Merit Medical Systems' return on equity of 15.61% beat QuidelOrtho's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
QuidelOrtho	-72.84%	3.78%	1.80%
Merit Medical Systems	9.05%	15.61%	8.38%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in QDEL or MMSI?

Merit Medical Systems received 9 more outperform votes than QuidelOrtho when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.26% of users gave Merit Medical Systems an outperform vote while only 66.92% of users gave QuidelOrtho an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
QuidelOrtho	Outperform Votes 447 66.92%	Underperform Votes 221 33.08%
Merit Medical Systems	Outperform Votes 456 70.26%	Underperform Votes 193 29.74%

Which has more risk & volatility, QDEL or MMSI?

QuidelOrtho has a beta of 0.13, indicating that its stock price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Merit Medical Systems has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of QDEL or MMSI?

99.0% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Merit Medical Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of QuidelOrtho shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Merit Medical Systems shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Merit Medical Systems beats QuidelOrtho on 16 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.