Fractyl Health (NASDAQ:GUTS) and Pulmonx (NASDAQ:LUNG) Critical Analysis

Pulmonx (NASDAQ:LUNG) and Fractyl Health (NASDAQ:GUTS) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Pulmonx and Fractyl Health”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pulmonx	$79.30 million	3.14	-$60.84 million	($1.47)	-4.29
Fractyl Health	$120,000.00	933.94	-$77.09 million	($12.19)	-0.19

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.0% of Pulmonx shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Pulmonx shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Pulmonx and Fractyl Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pulmonx	-72.01%	-53.88%	-33.47%
Fractyl Health	-64,849.48%	N/A	-57.21%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Pulmonx and Fractyl Health, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pulmonx	0	1	5	0	2.83
Fractyl Health	0	0	3	0	3.00

Pulmonx currently has a consensus target price of $14.67, suggesting a potential upside of 132.80%. Fractyl Health has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 844.21%. Given Fractyl Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fractyl Health is more favorable than Pulmonx.

Summary

Pulmonx beats Fractyl Health on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pulmonx

Pulmonx Corporation, a commercial-stage medical technology company, provides minimally invasive devices for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The company offers Zephyr Endobronchial Valve, a solution for the treatment of patients with hyperinflation associated with severe emphysema; and Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System, a balloon catheter and console system with flow and pressure sensors that are used to assess the presence of collateral ventilation. It also offers StratX Lung Analysis Platform, a cloud-based quantitative computed tomography analysis service that offers information on emphysema destruction, fissure completeness, and lobar volume to help identify target lobes for the treatment with Zephyr Valves. The company serves emphysema patients in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Pulmonx and changed its name to Pulmonx Corporation in December 2013. Pulmonx Corporation was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

About Fractyl Health

Fractyl Health, Inc., a metabolic therapeutics company, develops therapies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. The company develops Revita DMR System (Revita), an outpatient procedural therapy designed to durably modify duodenal dysfunction, a pathologic consequence of a high fat and high sugar diet, which can initiate T2D and obesity in humans. It also develops Rejuva, a novel adeno-associated virus delivered pancreatic gene therapy platform that is designed to enable long-term remission of T2D and obesity by durably altering metabolic hormone function in the pancreatic islet cells of patients. Fractyl Health, Inc. was formerly known as Fractyl Laboratories Inc. and changed its name to Fractyl Health, Inc. on June 09, 2021. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.