Critical Review: Longview Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE:LGV) and Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS)

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS – Get Rating) and Longview Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE:LGV – Get Rating) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Cerus has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Longview Acquisition Corp. II has a beta of 0.04, indicating that its stock price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Cerus and Longview Acquisition Corp. II, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cerus	0	2	1	0	2.33
Longview Acquisition Corp. II	0	0	0	0	N/A

Cerus presently has a consensus price target of $4.88, suggesting a potential upside of 50.00%. Given Cerus’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cerus is more favorable than Longview Acquisition Corp. II.

Profitability

This table compares Cerus and Longview Acquisition Corp. II’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cerus	-24.24%	-48.32%	-17.18%
Longview Acquisition Corp. II	N/A	-65.52%	3.65%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

82.5% of Cerus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.3% of Longview Acquisition Corp. II shares are held by institutional investors. 7.3% of Cerus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 26.4% of Longview Acquisition Corp. II shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cerus and Longview Acquisition Corp. II’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cerus	$157.88 million	3.65	-$54.38 million	($0.22)	-14.77
Longview Acquisition Corp. II	N/A	N/A	$7.40 million	N/A	N/A

Longview Acquisition Corp. II has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cerus.

Summary

Cerus beats Longview Acquisition Corp. II on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cerus

(Get Rating)

Cerus Corp. engages in the research, development, and manufacturing of biomedical and surgical products. The firm produces blood system for platelets and plasma. It operates through Blood Safety segment. It markets products under the INTERCEPT brand. The company was founded by Laurence M. Corash and John E. Hearst on September 19, 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, CA.

About Longview Acquisition Corp. II

(Get Rating)

Longview Acquisition Corp. II does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The company intends to focus on businesses in the healthcare, industrials, consumer, media, technology, and technology services sector. The company was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York.