Biostage (OTCMKTS:BSTG) and Carmell (NASDAQ:CTCX) Critical Review

Carmell (NASDAQ:CTCX) and Biostage (OTCMKTS:BSTG) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Carmell has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biostage has a beta of -1.02, suggesting that its share price is 202% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Carmell and Biostage, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carmell	0	0	0	0	0.00
Biostage	0	0	1	0	3.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

24.2% of Carmell shares are held by institutional investors. 29.0% of Carmell shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of Biostage 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Carmell and Biostage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carmell	$32,839.00	343.12	-$15.44 million	($0.46)	-1.17
Biostage	N/A	N/A	-$6.07 million	($0.58)	-7.67

Biostage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Carmell. Biostage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carmell, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Carmell and Biostage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carmell	N/A	-217.50%	-50.22%
Biostage	N/A	N/A	-174.43%

Summary

Carmell beats Biostage on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carmell

Carmell Corporation operates as a bio-aesthetics company. The company utilizes Carmell Secretome to support skin and hair health. Its Carmell Secretome consists of growth factors and proteins extracted from allogeneic human platelets sourced from tissue banks. The company also developed a microemulsion formulation that enables delivery of lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients without relying on the Foul Fourteen, 14 potentially harmful excipients that are commonly used by other companies to impart texture, stability, and other desirable physicochemical attributes to cosmetic products. In addition, the company is also developing a line of men's products and a line of topical haircare products. It has licensing agreement with Carnegie Mellon University to develop and commercialize biocompatible plasma-based plastics. The company was formerly known as Carmell Therapeutics Corporation and changed its name to Carmell Corporation in November 2023. Carmell Therapeutics Corporation was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Biostage

Biostage, Inc., a biotechnology company, offers products to cure patients of cancers, injuries, and birth defects of the gastro-intestinal tract and the airways. The company's pipeline includes organ-regeneration technology for the repair or replacement of diseased or damaged organs, as well as product candidates to treat cancer, injury, and birth defects of the bronchus. Its lead product candidate is Biostage Esophageal Implant for the treatment of severe esophageal disease. The company was formerly known as Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, Inc. and changed its name to Biostage, Inc. in March 2016. Biostage, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Holliston, Massachusetts.