Head-To-Head Contrast: Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) versus bioAffinity Technologies (NASDAQ:BIAF)

bioAffinity Technologies (NASDAQ:BIAF) and Exagen (NASDAQ:XGN) are both small-cap healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares bioAffinity Technologies and Exagen’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
bioAffinity Technologies	-257.30%	-220.52%	-136.76%
Exagen	-26.61%	-104.46%	-28.93%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares bioAffinity Technologies and Exagen”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
bioAffinity Technologies	$6.16 million	0.91	-$14.91 million	($109.45)	-0.09
Exagen	$66.57 million	2.54	-$19.95 million	($0.81)	-8.60

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

Risk & Volatility

bioAffinity Technologies has a beta of -1.11, indicating that its share price is 211% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Exagen has a beta of 2.1, indicating that its share price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for bioAffinity Technologies and Exagen, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
bioAffinity Technologies	1	0	0	0	1.00
Exagen	1	0	7	1	2.89

Exagen has a consensus price target of $9.62, indicating a potential upside of 38.09%. Given Exagen’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Exagen is more favorable than bioAffinity Technologies.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.6% of bioAffinity Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of Exagen shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of bioAffinity Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Exagen shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Exagen beats bioAffinity Technologies on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About bioAffinity Technologies

bioAffinity Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in developing non-invasive diagnostic tests and targeted cancer therapeutics. The company offers CyPath lung, a diagnostic test, for early detection of lung cancer. It also researches targeted therapies to treat lung cancer and other diseases of the lung at the cellular level. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

About Exagen

Exagen Inc. develops and commercializes various testing products under the AVISE brand in the United States. The company enables healthcare providers to care for patients through the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of autoimmune and autoimmune-related diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Its lead testing product is AVISE CTD that enables differential diagnosis for patients presenting with symptoms indicative of various connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and other related diseases with overlapping symptoms. The company offers AVISE Lupus that measures activation of the complement system by quantifying the level of B-cell C4d and erythrocyte bound C4d in the patient's blood; and AVISE APS, which consists of a panel of autoantibody tests that aids in the diagnosis and management of APS. In addition, it provides AVISE Vasculitis AAV, which utilizes a testing panel of individual analytes to provide physicians with results in the assessment and monitoring of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis; AVISE SLE Prognostic, a panel of autoantibodies for assessing the potential for complications affecting the kidney, brain, and cardiovascular system; and AVISE Anti-CarP test, which identifies RA patients with severe disease. Further, the company offers AVISE SLE Monitor, a biomarker blood test; AVISE MTX, a patented and validated blood test; and AVISE HCQ, a blood test to monitor levels of hydroxychloroquine. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Research Institute to develop novel patented biomarkers. The company was formerly known as Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and changed its name to Exagen Inc. in January 2019. Exagen Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Vista, California.