Head to Head Survey: Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) and InspireMD (NYSE:NSPR)

InspireMD (NYSE:NSPR) and Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for InspireMD and Cerus, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
InspireMD	0	0	1	0	3.00
Cerus	0	1	2	0	2.67

InspireMD currently has a consensus price target of $4.50, indicating a potential upside of 63.04%. Cerus has a consensus price target of $3.83, indicating a potential upside of 115.36%. Given Cerus’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cerus is more favorable than InspireMD.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares InspireMD and Cerus”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
InspireMD	$6.57 million	10.48	-$19.92 million	($0.76)	-3.63
Cerus	$169.98 million	1.94	-$37.49 million	($0.17)	-10.47

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

Profitability

This table compares InspireMD and Cerus’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
InspireMD	-388.67%	-62.02%	-52.26%
Cerus	-14.15%	-44.27%	-11.54%

Risk & Volatility

InspireMD has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cerus has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

44.8% of InspireMD shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Cerus shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.7% of InspireMD shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Cerus shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Cerus beats InspireMD on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About InspireMD

InspireMD, Inc., a medical device company, focuses on the development and commercialization of MicroNet stent platform technology for the treatment of vascular and coronary diseases in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The company offers CGuard carotid embolic prevention system (EPS) for use in carotid artery applications; CGuard Prime Stent System, a mesh-covered self-expanding carotid stent; and SwitchGuard NPS, a non-invasive transcarotid artery revascularization device; as well as treating acute stroke with tandem lesions. InspireMD, Inc. has a strategic agreement with Jacobs Institute to execute an early feasibility study of CGuard Prime for the treatment of acute stroke patients with tandem lesions. The company sells its products through local distribution partners. InspireMD, Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The company offers INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets and plasma, which is designed to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in platelets and plasma donated for transfusion; INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in red blood cells donated for transfusion; and INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation that uses its plasma system to produce pathogen reduced cryoprecipitated fibrinogen complex for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage associated with fibrinogen deficiency, as well as pathogen reduced plasma, cryoprecipitate reduced. It sells platelet and plasma systems through its direct sales force and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, Latin America, and internationally. Cerus Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, California.