Contrasting Standard BioTools (NASDAQ:LAB) and TruBridge (NASDAQ:TBRG)

TruBridge (NASDAQ:TBRG) and Standard BioTools (NASDAQ:LAB) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares TruBridge and Standard BioTools”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TruBridge	$346.84 million	1.13	$4.21 million	$0.20	131.20
Standard BioTools	$85.33 million	4.20	-$74.90 million	$0.20	4.59

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

Profitability

This table compares TruBridge and Standard BioTools’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TruBridge	0.92%	18.75%	8.32%
Standard BioTools	73.46%	-8.18%	-6.43%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.6% of TruBridge shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.7% of Standard BioTools shares are held by institutional investors. 10.7% of TruBridge shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.8% of Standard BioTools 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.

Volatility & Risk

TruBridge has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard BioTools has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for TruBridge and Standard BioTools, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TruBridge	0	8	0	0	2.00
Standard BioTools	1	2	0	0	1.67

TruBridge currently has a consensus price target of $23.95, suggesting a potential downside of 8.73%. Standard BioTools has a consensus price target of $1.35, suggesting a potential upside of 46.99%. Given Standard BioTools’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Standard BioTools is more favorable than TruBridge.

Summary

TruBridge beats Standard BioTools on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TruBridge

TruBridge, Inc. provides healthcare solutions and services for community hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare systems in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), Electronic Health Record (HER), and Patient Engagement. It focuses on providing RCM solutions for care settings, regardless of primary healthcare information solutions provider along with business management, consulting, managed IT services, and analytics and business intelligence. The company provides acute care solutions and related services for community hospitals, and physician clinics; and patient engagement and empowerment technology solutions to improve patient outcomes and engagement strategies with care providers. In addition, it offers patient liability estimates eligibility verification, claim scrubbing and submission, remittance management, denial/audit management, and contract management; and offers RCM services, such as accounts receivable management, private pay service, medical coding, revenue cycle consulting, and other additional insurance and patient billing services. Further, it offers consulting and business management services; managed IT services; encoder solutions; patient management; financial accounting; clinical; patient care; and enterprise applications. Additionally, it offers TruBridge HER platform, including total system support, national client conference, continuing education, software releases, hardware replacement, cloud electronic health record, forms and supplies, and public cloud infrastructure services; post-acute care software systems, and support and maintenance services; and InstantPHR, an interactive portal and CHBase which funnels data from multiple sources into one platform. The company was formerly known as Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. and changed its name to TruBridge, Inc. in March 2024. TruBridge, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama.

About Standard BioTools

Standard BioTools Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides instruments, consumables, reagents, and software services for researchers and clinical laboratories in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia pacific. It operates through two segments: Proteomics and Genomics. The company offers analytical systems, such as CyTOF XT System, a CyTOF XT mass cytometry system performs automated high-parameter single-cell analysis using antibodies conjugated to metal isotopes; and Hyperion XTi imaging system, a spatial biology instrument. It also provides genomics, such as X9 Real-Time PCR System, a real-time PCR analytical instrument including pre-processing steps for microfluidics-based workflows using (integrated fluidic circuit) IFCs; and IFC Controllers, a controller which is designed to work with IFC formats. In addition, the company offers analytical instruments comprising Biomark HD system, a real-time PCR analytical instrument for microfluidics-based workflows using prepared IFCs. It sells its products to academic research institutions; translational research and medicine centers; cancer centers; clinical research laboratories; biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, and plant and animal research companies; and contract research organizations. It has license agreements with California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. The company was formerly known as Fluidigm Corporation and changed its name to Standard BioTools Inc. in April 2022. Fluidigm Corporation was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.