Financial Survey: Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) and SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU)

SeaStar Medical (NASDAQ:ICU) and Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ:AEMD) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

1.7% of SeaStar Medical shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.0% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of SeaStar Medical shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Aethlon Medical shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

SeaStar Medical has a beta of -1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 213% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aethlon Medical has a beta of 1.79, suggesting that its stock price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Aethlon Medical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SeaStar Medical	N/A	N/A	-627.49%
Aethlon Medical	N/A	-160.36%	-115.74%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SeaStar Medical and Aethlon Medical”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SeaStar Medical	$68,000.00	137.17	-$26.23 million	($11.63)	-0.18
Aethlon Medical	$570,000.00	14.39	-$12.21 million	($2.82)	-0.21

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for SeaStar Medical and Aethlon Medical, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SeaStar Medical	0	0	0	0	0.00
Aethlon Medical	0	0	1	0	3.00

Aethlon Medical has a consensus target price of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1,091.29%. Given Aethlon Medical’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aethlon Medical is more favorable than SeaStar Medical.

Summary

Aethlon Medical beats SeaStar Medical on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SeaStar Medical

SeaStar Medical Holding Corporation, a medical device company, develops a platform therapy to reduce the consequences of hyperinflammation on vital organs in the United States. The company offers inflammatory response to fend off infections and repair damaged tissue in the body. It is also developing products in various therapeutic areas, including pediatric and adult acute kidney injury on CRRT; cardiorenal syndrome in congestive heart failure; myocardial stunning in end stage renal disease; and hepatorenal syndrome. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Aethlon Medical

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company, focuses on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases in the United States. It develops Hemopurifier, a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device that removes tumor-derived exosomes and life-threatening viruses and use in organ transplantation. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in San Diego, California.