Head-To-Head Contrast: Avinger (NASDAQ:AVGR) & Sintx Technologies (NASDAQ:SINT)

Sintx Technologies (NASDAQ:SINT) and Avinger (NASDAQ:AVGR) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Sintx Technologies has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avinger has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sintx Technologies and Avinger’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sintx Technologies	-358.79%	-140.68%	-78.29%
Avinger	-261.06%	-5,527.11%	-123.25%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sintx Technologies and Avinger, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sintx Technologies	0	1	0	0	2.00
Avinger	0	0	1	0	3.00

Avinger has a consensus target price of $5.00, suggesting a potential upside of 522.59%. Given Avinger’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Avinger is more favorable than Sintx Technologies.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.4% of Sintx Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.3% of Avinger shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Sintx Technologies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 42.8% of Avinger shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sintx Technologies and Avinger”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sintx Technologies	$1.64 million	2.76	-$8.26 million	($50.56)	-0.07
Avinger	$7.26 million	0.37	-$18.32 million	($11.06)	-0.07

Sintx Technologies has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Avinger. Avinger is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sintx Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

About Sintx Technologies

Sintx Technologies, Inc., an advanced ceramics company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of medical devices manufactured with silicon nitride for biomedical, technical, and antipathogenic applications in the United States. It provides solid and porous silicon nitride; silicon nitrite powder; and silicon nitride coating products, as well as silicon nitride composite materials, polyetheretherketone, and polyetherketoneketone. The company was formerly known as Amedica Corporation. Sintx Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Avinger

Avinger, Inc., a commercial-stage medical device company, designs, manufactures, and sells a suite of image-guided and catheter-based systems used by physicians to treat patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) primarily in the United States and Germany. The company develops lumivascular platform that integrates optical coherence tomography visualization with interventional catheters to provide real-time intravascular imaging during the treatment portion of PAD procedures. Its lumivascular products comprise Lightbox imaging consoles; the Ocelot and Tigereye family of devices, which are designed to allow physicians to penetrate a total blockage in an artery; and Pantheris, an image-guided atherectomy device that allows physicians to precisely remove arterial plaque in PAD patients. The company is also developing IMAGE-BTK for the treatment of PAD lesions below-the-knee. It markets and sells its products to interventional cardiologists, vascular surgeons, and interventional radiologists. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Redwood City, California.