Head to Head Review: Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) & GBS (NYSE:GBS)

Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) and GBS (NYSE:GBS) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Baxter International has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GBS has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Baxter International and GBS, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Baxter International	1	8	2	0	2.09
GBS	0	0	0	0	N/A

Baxter International presently has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.85%. Given Baxter International’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Baxter International is more favorable than GBS.

Profitability

This table compares Baxter International and GBS’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Baxter International	16.51%	18.06%	5.21%
GBS	N/A	-85.64%	-54.42%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.2% of Baxter International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.8% of GBS shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Baxter International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of GBS shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Baxter International and GBS”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Baxter International	$15.00 billion	1.24	$2.66 billion	$5.20	7.03
GBS	$440,000.00	50.76	-$8.31 million	($0.56)	-2.68

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

Summary

Baxter International beats GBS on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Baxter International

Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Medical Products and Therapies, Healthcare Systems and Technologies, Pharmaceuticals, and Kidney Care. The company offers sterile intravenous (IV) solutions; infusion systems and devices; parenteral nutrition therapies; generic injectable pharmaceuticals; surgical hemostat and sealant products, advanced surgical equipment; smart bed systems; patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies; and respiratory health devices, as well as advanced equipment for the surgical space, including surgical video technologies, precision positioning devices, and other accessories. It also provides administrative sets; adhesion prevention products; inhaled anesthesia; drug compounding; chronic and acute dialysis therapies and services, including peritoneal dialysis (PD), hemodialysis (HD), continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRT), and other organ support therapies. The company’s products are used in hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, ambulatory surgery centers, doctors’ offices, and patients at home under physician supervision. The company sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through independent distributors, drug wholesalers, and specialty pharmacy or other alternate site providers in approximately 100 countries. It has an agreement with Celerity Pharmaceutical, LLC to develop acute care generic injectable premix and oncolytic products; and a collaborative research agreement with Miromatrix Medical Inc. aiming to advance care for patients with acute liver failure. Baxter International Inc. was incorporated in 1931 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois.

About GBS

GBS Inc. operates as a biosensor diagnostic technology company in the Asia-Pacific and North America. It offers Saliva Glucose Biosensor, an organic thin-film transistor for diabetes management that measures glucose in saliva. The company also focuses on developing SARS-CoV-2 Biosensor, a biosensor test can be used as a complement to the (RNA) virus detection test; and a biosensor platform comprising of biochemistry, immunology, tumor markers, hormones, and nucleic acid diagnostic modalities. GBS Inc. has a research agreement with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for the development of saliva-based diagnostic tests. The company was formerly known as Glucose Biosensor Systems (Greater China) Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to GBS Inc. in September 2019. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in New York, New York. GBS Inc. is a subsidiary of Life Science Biosensor Diagnostics Pty Ltd.