Financial Review: Cresco Labs (OTCMKTS:CRLBF) and Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN)

Align Technology (NASDAQ:ALGN) and Cresco Labs (OTCMKTS:CRLBF) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.4% of Align Technology shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Cresco Labs shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Align Technology shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Align Technology and Cresco Labs, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Align Technology	1	7	8	1	2.53
Cresco Labs	0	0	1	2	3.67

Align Technology currently has a consensus target price of $190.93, suggesting a potential upside of 22.78%. Given Align Technology’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Align Technology is more favorable than Cresco Labs.

Volatility & Risk

Align Technology has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cresco Labs has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Align Technology and Cresco Labs”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Align Technology	$4.03 billion	2.76	$410.35 million	$5.75	27.05
Cresco Labs	$655.85 million	0.36	-$135.41 million	($0.30)	-2.12

Align Technology has higher revenue and earnings than Cresco Labs. Cresco Labs is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Align Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Align Technology and Cresco Labs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Align Technology	9.99%	15.86%	10.32%
Cresco Labs	-15.50%	-7.53%	-1.68%

Summary

Align Technology beats Cresco Labs on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Align Technology

Align Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services for orthodontists and general practitioner dentists in the United States, Switzerland, and internationally. The company's Clear Aligner segment offers comprehensive products, including Invisalign comprehensive package that addresses the orthodontic needs of younger patients, such as mandibular advancement, compliance indicators, and compensation for tooth eruption; and Invisalign First Phase I and Invisalign First Comprehensive Phase 2 package for younger patients generally between the ages of six and ten years, which is a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth. The segment also provides Invisalign moderate, lite and express packages, and Invisalign go and Invisalign Go Plus; retention products, Invisalign training, and adjusting tools used by dental professionals during the course of treatment; and Invisalign Palatal Expander, a 3D printed orthodontic device; and 3D printing solutions. Its Imaging Systems and CAD/CAM Services segment offers iTero intraoral scanning system, a single hardware platform for restorative or orthodontic procedures; restorative software for general practitioner dentists, prosthodontists, periodontists, and oral surgeons; and orthodontists software for digital records storage, orthodontic diagnosis, and fabrication of printed models and retainers. This segment also provides Invisalign outcome simulator, a chair-side and cloud-based application for the iTero scanner; Invisalign progress assessment tool; Align Oral Health Suite, a digital interface designed to enhance dental consultations; and TimeLapse technology, which allows doctors or practitioners to compare a patient's historic 3D scans to the present-day scan, as well as subscription software, disposables, rentals, leases, pay per scan, and CAD/CAM software solutions. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

About Cresco Labs

Cresco Labs Inc., together with its subsidiaries, cultivates, manufactures, and sells retail and medical cannabis products in the United States. It provides cannabis in flowers, vape pens, live resins, disposable pens, and extracts under the Cresco brand; vape carts, vape pens, flower, popcorn, shake, pre-rolls, shorties, and concentrates under the High Supply brand; vapes and gummies under the Good News brand; vapes and edibles under the Wonder Wellness Co. brand; and tinctures, capsules, salves, and sublingual oils under the Remedi brand. The company also offers cannabis flowers under the FloraCal brand; and chocolate and toffee confections and fruit-forward gummies under the Mindy's Edibles brand, as well as licenses the Kiva brand, which produces cannabis infused edibles, including chocolate confections, gummies, mints, and tarts. In addition, the company offers cannabis-infused edibles under the Sunnyside brand. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.