CARIS LIFE SCIENCES, INC. vs GUARDANT HEALTH, INC., two Medical Diagnostics stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Caris and Guardant both sell cancer diagnostics and have chosen opposite relationships with profit: Caris runs barely in the black, a 2.4% operating margin priced at 52.9 times earnings, while Guardant runs a negative 40.2% operating margin, spending four times Caris' market value in pursuit of screening scale, $20B against $5B. Guardant's balance sheet shows the strategy, a 4.7 current ratio being drawn down; Caris holds 7.05 with modest leverage. Neither yields meaningful free cash. The market pays quadruple for the bigger loss because the addressable prize, blood-based cancer screening, sits closer to Guardant's spend than Caris' caution. Two bets on the same science: one priced on discipline, one on ambition.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | CAI | GH |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $18.52 | $149.32 |
| Market cap | $5.2B | $19.6B |
| Sector | Medical Diagnostics | Medical Diagnostics |
| Stage | Growth | Growth |
| P/E | 52.9 | — |
| P/B | 8.82 | — |
| P/S | 5.77 | 18.15 |
| EV/EBITDA | 37.2 | — |
| Revenue growth | +91.2% | +39.3% |
| Operating margin | 2.4% | -40.2% |
| Net margin | 3.8% | -40.1% |
| Return on equity | 5.7% | — |
| Return on assets | 2.9% | -22.6% |
| Return on invested capital | 8.8% | -26.7% |
| FCF yield | 2.4% | -1.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.64 | — |
| Current ratio | 7.05 | 4.68 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 4.14 | 4.37 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 3 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.