Head to Head Review: Delcath Systems (NASDAQ:DCTH) versus Sysmex (OTCMKTS:SSMXY)

Delcath Systems (NASDAQ:DCTH) and Sysmex (OTCMKTS:SSMXY) are both medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Delcath Systems and Sysmex, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Delcath Systems	0	1	3	0	2.75
Sysmex	0	1	1	0	2.50

Delcath Systems presently has a consensus price target of $25.67, suggesting a potential upside of 114.42%. Given Delcath Systems’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Delcath Systems is more favorable than Sysmex.

Risk and Volatility

Delcath Systems has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sysmex has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Delcath Systems and Sysmex’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Delcath Systems	3.18%	6.91%	5.80%
Sysmex	9.35%	10.20%	7.25%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.1% of Delcath Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 17.9% of Delcath Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Delcath Systems and Sysmex”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Delcath Systems	$37.21 million	11.25	-$26.39 million	$0.05	239.40
Sysmex	$3.34 billion	2.27	$357.79 million	$0.50	24.04

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

About Delcath Systems

Delcath Systems, Inc., an interventional oncology company, focuses on the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancers in the United States and Europe. The company’s lead product candidate is HEPZATO KIT, a melphalan for injection/hepatic delivery system to administer high-dose chemotherapy to the liver while controlling systemic exposure and associated side effects. Its clinical development program for HEPZATO is the FOCUS clinical trial for patients with metastatic hepatic dominant Uveal Melanoma to investigate objective response rate in metastatic uveal melanoma. It also provides HEPZATO as a stand-alone medical device under the CHEMOSAT Hepatic Delivery System trade name for Melphalan or CHEMOSAT for medical centers to treat a range of liver cancers in Europe. Delcath Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Sysmex

Sysmex Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of diagnostic instruments, reagents, and related software in Japan. It offers three-part and five-part white blood cell differentiation instruments for use in hematology; and transport systems for high-volume testing in labs. The company also provides automated urine particle analyzers; automated blood coagulation analyzers; automated immunochemistry systems, which perform assays on minute sample quantities, as well as reagents to test for infectious disease and tumor markers; and flow cytometers to perform analysis in diagnosing leukemia, malignant lymphoma, and HIV/AIDS. In addition, it offers cancer lymph node metastasis testing systems to detect information to help in diagnosing lymph node metastasis; and lab assay services. Further, the company is involved in the development and sale of software for diagnostic information systems; provision of facility management, office, welfare, and genetic analysis services; development, operation, and maintenance of IT solutions, platforms, and applications related to digital medicine; marketing, development, design, manufacture, sale, and after-sales service related to medical robots; and distribution and after sales support of medical devices and reagents for biotechnology, medical technology, and molecular cell analysis. Additionally, it researches, develops, manufactures, and sells regenerative medicine products; develops, manufactures, and sells biodevices; develops, maintains, and sells computer software; and offers blood DNA testing service. The company serves national and other public hospitals, private hospitals, universities, research institutes, other medical institutions, etc. It also exports its products to approximately 190 countries. The company was formerly known as TOA Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Sysmex Corporation in October 1998. Sysmex Corporation was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Kobe, Japan.