Contrasting Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) & TriSalus Life Sciences (NASDAQ:TLSI)

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) and TriSalus Life Sciences (NASDAQ:TLSI) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Cerus and TriSalus Life Sciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cerus	0	1	2	0	2.67
TriSalus Life Sciences	0	0	4	0	3.00

Cerus currently has a consensus target price of $3.83, suggesting a potential upside of 109.47%. TriSalus Life Sciences has a consensus target price of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 172.33%. Given TriSalus Life Sciences’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe TriSalus Life Sciences is more favorable than Cerus.

Profitability

This table compares Cerus and TriSalus Life Sciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cerus	-14.15%	-44.27%	-11.54%
TriSalus Life Sciences	-219.71%	N/A	-192.99%

Risk & Volatility

Cerus has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TriSalus Life Sciences has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cerus and TriSalus Life Sciences”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cerus	$169.98 million	1.99	-$37.49 million	($0.17)	-10.76
TriSalus Life Sciences	$24.74 million	5.04	-$59.04 million	N/A	N/A

Cerus has higher revenue and earnings than TriSalus Life Sciences.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.4% of Cerus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.6% of TriSalus Life Sciences shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of Cerus shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 76.2% of TriSalus Life Sciences shares are held 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.

About Cerus

Cerus Corporation operates as a biomedical products company. The company focuses on developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System to enhance blood safety. Its INTERCEPT Blood System, a proprietary technology for controlling biological replication that is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The company offers INTERCEPT Blood Systems for platelets and plasma, which is designed to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in platelets and plasma donated for transfusion; INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells to inactivate blood-borne pathogens in red blood cells donated for transfusion; and INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation that uses its plasma system to produce pathogen reduced cryoprecipitated fibrinogen complex for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage associated with fibrinogen deficiency, as well as pathogen reduced plasma, cryoprecipitate reduced. It sells platelet and plasma systems through its direct sales force and distributors in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, Latin America, and internationally. Cerus Corporation was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Concord, California.

About TriSalus Life Sciences

TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc., a medical technology company, researches, develops, and sells drug delivery technologies and immune-oncology therapeutics for the treatment of liver and pancreatic cancer. The company offers Pressure Enabled Drug Delivery infusion systems, such as the TriNav infusion system, which is used in transarterial radioembolization and chemoembolization procedures for patients with liver cancer and metastases; and the Pancreatic Retrograde Venous Infusion device, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial, for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. It also develops nelitolimod, an investigational immunotherapeutic in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of uveal melanoma with liver metastases, hepatocellular carcinoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The company serves interventional radiologists, IR technicians, medical oncologists, nursing support, value analysis committee staff, and patients through its sales representatives and sales managers. TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.