Critical Contrast: iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC) vs. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

iRhythm Technologies (NASDAQ:IRTC) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares iRhythm Technologies and Abbott Laboratories”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
iRhythm Technologies	$537.09 million	4.39	-$123.41 million	($4.23)	-17.91
Abbott Laboratories	$41.22 billion	4.83	$5.72 billion	$3.21	35.65

Abbott Laboratories has higher revenue and earnings than iRhythm Technologies. iRhythm Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Abbott Laboratories, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

iRhythm Technologies has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Abbott Laboratories has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for iRhythm Technologies and Abbott Laboratories, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
iRhythm Technologies	0	1	9	0	2.90
Abbott Laboratories	0	4	12	0	2.75

iRhythm Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $113.90, indicating a potential upside of 50.32%. Abbott Laboratories has a consensus price target of $129.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.30%. Given iRhythm Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe iRhythm Technologies is more favorable than Abbott Laboratories.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

75.2% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of iRhythm Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Abbott Laboratories shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares iRhythm Technologies and Abbott Laboratories’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
iRhythm Technologies	-24.50%	-84.14%	-19.29%
Abbott Laboratories	13.65%	20.18%	10.77%

Summary

Abbott Laboratories beats iRhythm Technologies on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About iRhythm Technologies

iRhythm Technologies, Inc., a digital healthcare company, engages in the design, development, and commercialization of device-based technology to provide ambulatory cardiac monitoring services to diagnose arrhythmias in the United States. It offers Zio services, an ambulatory monitoring solution, including long-term and short-term continuous monitoring and mobile cardiac telemetry monitoring services. The company also provides the Zio Monitor System, a prescription-only, remote electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system that consists of a patch ECG monitor that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days and the Zio ECG Utilization Software System, which supports the capture and analysis of ECG data recorded by the Zio Monitor patch at the end of the wear period, including specific arrhythmia events detected by the ZEUS System; the Zio XT System is the previous generation of the Zio Monitor System and is a prescription-only, remote ECG monitoring system that consists of the Zio XT patch that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days; and the Zio AT system, a prescription-only, remote ECG monitoring system that similarly consists of the Zio AT patch that records the electric signal from the heart continuously for up to 14 days and the ZEUS System, but which also incorporates the Zio AT wireless gateway that provides connectivity between the Zio AT patch and the ZEUS System during the patient wear period. It has a development collaboration agreement with Verily Life Sciences LLC and Verity Ireland Limited to develop various next-generation atrial fibrillation screening, detection, or monitoring products. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. It also offers laboratory and transfusion medicine systems in the areas of immunoassay, clinical chemistry, hematology, and transfusion; molecular diagnostics polymerase chain reaction instrument systems that automate the extraction, purification, and preparation of DNA and RNA from patient samples, and detect and measure infectious agents; point of care systems; cartridges for testing blood gas, chemistry, electrolytes, coagulation, and immunoassay; rapid diagnostics lateral flow testing products; molecular point-of-care testing for HIV, SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B, RSV, and strep A; cardiometabolic test systems; drug and alcohol test, and remote patient monitoring and consumer self-test systems; and informatics and automation solutions for laboratories. In addition, the company provides pediatric and adult nutritional products; rhythm management, electrophysiology, heart failure, vascular, and structural heart devices for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases; diabetes care products, such as glucose and blood glucose monitoring systems; and neuromodulation devices for the management of chronic pain and movement disorders. Abbott Laboratories was founded in 1888 and is based in North Chicago, Illinois.