Analyzing Biodesix (NASDAQ:BDSX) and LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD)

LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD) and Biodesix (NASDAQ:BDSX) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for LifeMD and Biodesix, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LifeMD	1	1	8	0	2.70
Biodesix	1	0	2	0	2.33

LifeMD currently has a consensus price target of $9.14, indicating a potential upside of 86.97%. Biodesix has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 42.30%. Given LifeMD’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe LifeMD is more favorable than Biodesix.

Volatility and Risk

LifeMD has a beta of 1.98, suggesting that its share price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Biodesix has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.5% of LifeMD shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.0% of Biodesix shares are held by institutional investors. 18.4% of LifeMD shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.2% of Biodesix shares are held by 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.

Profitability

This table compares LifeMD and Biodesix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LifeMD	2.37%	-150.88%	-22.59%
Biodesix	-33.26%	-2,101.40%	-35.65%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LifeMD and Biodesix”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LifeMD	$194.05 million	1.22	$14.35 million	$0.05	97.80
Biodesix	$88.50 million	1.81	-$35.26 million	($4.06)	-3.81

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

Summary

LifeMD beats Biodesix on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LifeMD

LifeMD, Inc. operates as a direct-to-patient telehealth company that connects consumers to healthcare professionals for medical care in the United States. The company offers telehealth platform comprising RexMD, a men's telehealth brand that provides access to virtual medical treatment for a variety of men's health needs from licensed physician; ShapiroMD that provides virtual medical treatment, prescription medications, patented doctor formulated OTC products, topical compounded medications, and medical devices treating male and female hair loss; NavaMD, a female-oriented tele-dermatology that offers virtual medical treatment from dermatologists and other providers; and prescription oral and compounded topical medications to treat aging and acne; and Cleared which provides personalized treatments for allergy, asthma and immunology, including in-home tests for both environmental and food allergies, prescriptions for allergies and asthma and immunotherapies for treating chronic allergies. It also provides LifeMD PC, a direct-to-consumer virtual primary care which includes 24/7 access to a provider for their primary care, urgent care, and chronic care needs; and offers virtual consultations and treatment, prescription medications, diagnostics and imaging, wellness coaching, and more. In addition, the company offers PDFSimpli, an online software as a service platform that allows users to create, edit, convert, sign, and share PDF documents; ResumeBuild which provides digital resume and cover letter services; SignSimpli, a digital signature platform; and LegalSimpli, a provider of legal forms for consumers and small businesses. It sells its products directly to consumers and through e-commerce platforms, as well as through third party partner channels. The company was formerly known as Conversion Labs, Inc. and changed its name to LifeMD, Inc. in February 2021. LifeMD, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Biodesix

Biodesix, Inc. operates as a data-driven diagnostic solutions company in the United States. The company offers blood-based lung tests, including Nodify XL2 and Nodify CDT tests, together marketed as part of Nodify Lung Nodule Risk Assessment testing strategy, to assess the risk of lung cancer and help in identifying the appropriate treatment pathway and help physicians in reclassifying risk of malignancy in patients with suspicious lung nodules. It also provides GeneStrat ddPCR and NGS, and VeriStrat tests, which are used in the diagnosis of lung cancer to measure the presence of mutations in the tumor and the state of the patient's immune system to establish the patient's prognosis and help guide treatment decisions. In addition, the company, through its partnership with Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., provides Bio-Rad SARS-CoV-2 ddPCR, a COVID-19 Test under Biodesix WorkSafe testing program; and Platelia SARS-CoV-2 Total Ab test, an antibody test for detecting a B-cell immune response to SARS-CoV-2 that indicate recent or prior infection. Further, it offers diagnostic and clinical research, as well as clinical trial testing services to biopharmaceutical companies; and discovers, develops, and commercializes companion diagnostics. The company was formerly known as Elston Technologies, Inc. and as changed to Biodesix, Inc. in 2006. Biodesix, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado.