Critical Review: Stagezero Life Sciences (OTCMKTS:SZLSF) and Fonar (NASDAQ:FONR)

Stagezero Life Sciences (OTCMKTS:SZLSF) and Fonar (NASDAQ:FONR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Stagezero Life Sciences has a beta of 0.05, meaning that its share price is 95% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fonar has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Stagezero Life Sciences and Fonar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stagezero Life Sciences	0	0	0	0	0.00
Fonar	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

50.6% of Fonar shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Stagezero Life Sciences shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Fonar shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Stagezero Life Sciences and Fonar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stagezero Life Sciences	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fonar	7.08%	4.66%	3.48%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Stagezero Life Sciences and Fonar”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stagezero Life Sciences	N/A	N/A	N/A	($0.01)	-0.05
Fonar	$105.43 million	1.10	$8.33 million	$1.11	16.80

Fonar has higher revenue and earnings than Stagezero Life Sciences. Stagezero Life Sciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fonar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Fonar beats Stagezero Life Sciences on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stagezero Life Sciences

StageZero Life Sciences Ltd., a vertically integrated healthcare company, develops and commercializes proprietary molecular diagnostic tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management with a primary focus on cancer-related indications in North America and Western Europe. Its proprietary platform technology is Sentinel Principle, which identifies RNA-based biomarkers from whole blood. The company’s lead product is Aristotle, a mRNA-based multi-cancer panel test for for the detection of multiple discrete cancers from a single sample of blood. It also offers ColonSentry, a blood test to determine an individual’s current risk for having colorectal cancer; Prostate Health Index, a screening test for prostate cancer; BreastSentry, a test to determine a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer; and COVID-19 Tests. The company is based in Richmond Hill, Canada.

About Fonar

FONAR Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, production, and marketing of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners for the detection and diagnosis of human diseases in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Medical Equipment, and Physician Management and Diagnostic Services. It provides Upright MRI scanner that allows patients to be scanned in weight-bearing conditions, such as standing, sitting, bending, or lying down. The company also offers non-medical management, including administrative services, billing and collection services, credentialing services, contract negotiations, compliance consulting, purchasing IT services, hiring, conducting interviews, training, supervision and management of non-medical personnel, storage of medical records, office space, equipment, repair maintenance services, accounting, assistance with compliance matters, and development and implementation of practice growth and marketing strategies. It owns and operates diagnostic imaging facilities in Florida; and manages MRI scanning facilities. The company markets its scanners to private diagnostic imaging centers and hospital outpatient imaging facilities. FONAR Corporation was founded in 1970 and is based in Melville, New York.