Which Is a Better Investment, Axogen, Inc. or Merit Medical Systems, Inc. Stock?

By Rosalio Madrigal
April 27, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc.

Axogen, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development and commercialization of the technologies used for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair worldwide. The company offers Avance Nerve Graft, a processed nerve allograft intended for the surgical repair of peripheral nerve discontinuities; Axoguard Nerve Connector, a coaptation aid used to align and connect severed peripheral nerve ends in a tensionless repair; and Axoguard Nerve Protector, a product used to protect and wrap damaged peripheral nerves and reinforce reconstructed nerve gaps. It also provides Axoguard HA+ Nerve Protector, a surgical implant for non-constricting protection of the peripheral nerves; Axoguard Nerve Cap, a porcine submucosa ECM product; Avive+ Soft Tissue Matrix, a multi-layer amniotic membrane allograft; and Avance Method, a technique to process Avance Nerve Graft from donated human peripheral nerve tissue. In addition, the company offers peripheral nerve tissue recovery and acquisition, and testing, as well as donor medical review and release, debridement and other processing steps, packaging, and sterilization. It provides its products to hospitals, surgery centers and military hospitals, calling on surgeons, including plastic reconstructive surgeons, orthopedic and plastic hand surgeons, and certain oral and maxillofacial surgeons through independent in-country distributors. The company is headquartered in Alachua, Florida.

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets single-use medical products for interventional, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures in the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Cardiovascular and Endoscopy. The company offers micropuncture kits, angiographic needles, sheaths, guide wires, and safety products; peripheral intervention products comprising angiography, drainage, delivery systems, and embolotherapy products; oncology products, such as soft tissue biopsy products and accessories; cardiac intervention products consisting of cardiac access, angiography, electrophysiology and cardiac rhythm management, fluid management, hemodynamic monitoring, hemostasis, and intervention products; and spine products, including vertebral augmentation, radiofrequency ablation, and bone biopsy systems. It also provides custom procedural solutions, including critical care products, syringes, manifold kits, and trays and packs; coating services for medical tubes and wires; and sensor components for microelectromechanical systems. In addition, the company offers gastroenterology products, such as esophageal stents, cryoballoon and inflation devices, gauges, and balloon dilators; pulmonary products consisting of laser-cut tracheobronchial stents, and over-the-wire and direct visualization delivery systems; and kits and accessories for endoscopy and bronchoscopy procedures. It sells its products to hospitals, alternate site-based physicians, technicians, and nurses through direct sales force, independent distributors, original equipment manufacturer partners, and custom procedure tray manufacturers. The company exports its products to Canada, Western Europe, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, India, New Zealand, and South Africa. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah.

Latest Health Care Equipment & Supplies and Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems, Inc. Stock News

As of April 24, 2026, Axogen, Inc. had a $2.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Health Care Equipment & Supplies median of $300.9 million. Axogen, Inc.’s stock is up 21.1% in 2026, up 6.4% in the previous five trading days and up 151.28% in the past year.

Currently, Axogen, Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Axogen, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $225.2 million with a -7.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 21.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.534 per share for the current fiscal year. Axogen, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of April 24, 2026, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. had a $4.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 65th percentile of all stocks. Merit Medical Systems, Inc.’s stock is down 21.7% in 2026, down 1.1% in the previous five trading days and down 26.86% in the past year.

Currently, Merit Medical Systems, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 32.2. Merit Medical Systems, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.5 billion with a 8.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.014 per share for the current fiscal year. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Axogen, Inc. AXGN F
Merit Medical Systems, Inc. MMSI D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Axogen, Inc. has a Value Score of 6, which is Ultra Expensive. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a Value Score of 30, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Axogen, Inc. AXGN C
Merit Medical Systems, Inc. MMSI A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Axogen, Inc. has a Growth Score of 49, which is Average. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Merit Medical Systems, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Axogen, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Axogen, Inc. AXGN B
Merit Medical Systems, Inc. MMSI A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Axogen, Inc. has a Quality Score of 62, which is Strong. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a Quality Score of 81, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Merit Medical Systems, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Axogen, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Merit Medical Systems, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Estimate Revisions.

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Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Axogen, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 6, Growth Score of 49 and Quality Score of 62.

Merit Medical Systems, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 30, Growth Score of 100 and Quality Score of 81.

Comparing Axogen, Inc., Merit Medical Systems and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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