Harvard Bioscience (HBIO) Competitors

Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) are both life sciences tools & services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer HBIO or TMO?

In the previous week, Thermo Fisher Scientific had 74 more articles in the media than Harvard Bioscience. MarketBeat recorded 77 mentions for Thermo Fisher Scientific and 3 mentions for Harvard Bioscience. Thermo Fisher Scientific's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Harvard Bioscience's score of 0.06 indicating that Thermo Fisher Scientific is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Harvard Bioscience	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Thermo Fisher Scientific	57 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer HBIO or TMO?

Harvard Bioscience presently has a consensus price target of $3.00, indicating a potential upside of 451.98%. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a consensus price target of $593.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.29%. Given Harvard Bioscience's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Harvard Bioscience is more favorable than Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Harvard Bioscience	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Thermo Fisher Scientific	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Which has better earnings & valuation, HBIO or TMO?

Thermo Fisher Scientific has higher revenue and earnings than Harvard Bioscience. Harvard Bioscience is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Thermo Fisher Scientific, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Harvard Bioscience	$94.14M	0.26	-$12.40M	-$1.30	-0.42
Thermo Fisher Scientific	$42.88B	4.31	$6.34B	$17.29	28.28

Which has more risk & volatility, HBIO or TMO?

Harvard Bioscience has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its share price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in HBIO or TMO?

80.9% of Harvard Bioscience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.2% of Thermo Fisher Scientific shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of Harvard Bioscience shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Thermo Fisher Scientific shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HBIO or TMO more profitable?

Thermo Fisher Scientific has a net margin of 15.24% compared to Harvard Bioscience's net margin of -64.68%. Thermo Fisher Scientific's return on equity of 16.82% beat Harvard Bioscience's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Harvard Bioscience	-64.68%	-5.64%	-2.15%
Thermo Fisher Scientific	15.24%	16.82%	8.38%

Summary

Thermo Fisher Scientific beats Harvard Bioscience on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.