Comparing Establishment Labs (NASDAQ:ESTA) and Q Biomed (OTCMKTS:QBIO)

Q Biomed (OTCMKTS:QBIO) and Establishment Labs (NASDAQ:ESTA) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

72.9% of Establishment Labs shares are held by institutional investors. 28.2% of Q Biomed shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Establishment Labs shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Q Biomed and Establishment Labs, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Q Biomed	0	0	0	0	0.00
Establishment Labs	1	1	6	0	2.63

Establishment Labs has a consensus target price of $78.86, suggesting a potential upside of 14.63%. Given Establishment Labs’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Establishment Labs is more favorable than Q Biomed.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Q Biomed and Establishment Labs”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Q Biomed	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.08	N/A
Establishment Labs	$166.02 million	12.04	-$84.60 million	($2.84)	-24.22

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

Profitability

This table compares Q Biomed and Establishment Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Q Biomed	N/A	N/A	N/A
Establishment Labs	-43.45%	-235.45%	-22.83%

Risk and Volatility

Q Biomed has a beta of 2.52, suggesting that its stock price is 152% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Establishment Labs has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Q Biomed beats Establishment Labs on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Q Biomed

Q BioMed Inc., a biomedical acceleration and development company, focuses on licensing, acquiring, and providing resources to life sciences and healthcare companies. The company offers Strontium Chloride Sr-89 and Metastron, a radiopharmaceutical therapeutic for the treatment of metastatic bone cancer pain. It is also developing Man-01, that is used for the treatment of primary open angle glaucoma; QBM-001 for rare pediatric non-verbal autism spectrum disorder; and Uttroside-B, a novel chemotherapeutic for liver cancer. Q BioMed Inc. has a partnership with Mannin Research Inc. for the development of therapeutic drugs to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome, glaucoma, kidney diseases, and others. The company was formerly known as ISMO Tech Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Q BioMed Inc. in July 2015. Q BioMed Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in New York, New York.

About Establishment Labs

Establishment Labs Holdings Inc., a medical technology company, manufactures and markets medical devices for aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. The company primarily offers silicone gel-filled breast implants under the Motiva Implants brand. It also provides Motiva Ergonomix and Motiva Ergonomix2 gravity sensitive round soft silicone-gel-filled breast implants; and Motiva Flora Tissue Expander, a breast tissue expander. The company sells its products to physicians, hospitals, and clinics through distributors and direct sales force in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Alajuela, Costa Rica.