Aethlon Medical, Inc. AEMD

Competitive advantage analysis · healthcare

Medical Devices & Diagnostics
Overall moat score
51/100
Moderate

About Aethlon Medical, Inc.

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company, engages in developing novel immunotherapeutic devices to treat cancer and viral infections in the United States. It develops Hemopurifier, a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device intended for applications in cancer, and life-threatening viral infections, and use in organ transplantation. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in San Diego, California. Full AEMD analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Elite Gross Margins Gross margin quality is top-tier vs peers (score 1.00). This signals strong consumable attach-rate economics.
  • Comfortable Interest Coverage Interest coverage quality is strong vs peers (score 0.74). Debt servicing capacity supports continued M&A optionality.

Key risks

  • Weak FCF Generation FCF margin quality lags peers (score 0.13). Below-peer FCF conversion is a MedTech quality warning.
  • Weak Capital Return Profile Capital return quality is below peers (score 0.18). Low ROIC raises questions about M&A discipline and pipeline ROI.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power & Consumable Moat

Strong
100

Where AEMD ranks in Medical Devices

Aethlon Medical, Inc. ranks #68 of 160 scored companies in Medical Devices by moat score — the top 42%. The widest moat in the group is iRadimed Corporation (IRMD) at 83/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near AEMD in Medical Devices
# Company Moat score Rating
64 Inogen, Inc INGN 52/100 Moderate
65 TELA Bio, Inc. TELA 52/100 Moderate
66 electroCore, Inc. ECOR 51/100 Moderate
67 Venus Concept Inc. VERO 51/100 Moderate
68 Aethlon Medical, Inc. AEMD 51/100 Moderate
69 Apyx Medical Corporation APYX 51/100 Moderate
70 Cytek Biosciences, Inc. CTKB 50/100 Moderate
71 Avita Medical, Inc. RCEL 50/100 Moderate
72 Glaukos Corporation GKOS 50/100 Moderate

See every Medical Devices & Diagnostics company ranked by moat score →

How AEMD scores on the Medical Devices & Diagnostics defenses

Pricing Power & Consumable Moat

Score 100 · 25% of the moat score

In MedTech, pricing power is rarely about the machine — it is about what the machine consumes.

R&D Pipeline & Capital Returns

Score 24 · 20% of the moat score

Research spending is how a device company keeps its installed base current, but spending alone proves nothing.

FCF Quality & Cash Conversion

Score 13 · 20% of the moat score

MedTech companies grow by acquisition, and the resulting intangible amortisation depresses reported earnings without consuming any cash.

Commercial Execution

Score 16 · 15% of the moat score

Devices are sold into hospitals and labs through committees, tenders and long qualification cycles, which makes the sales organisation expensive and hard to replicate.

Capital Structure & Resilience

Score 70 · 12% of the moat score

Serial acquirers carry debt, and the question is whether the cash flows underneath it are dependable enough to service it through a downturn.

Growth Durability

Score 14 · 8% of the moat score

Growth durability separates an expanding installed base from a good product cycle.

How each Medical Devices & Diagnostics defense is measured, in full →

Understanding AEMD's moat

What is Aethlon Medical, Inc.'s moat score?

Aethlon Medical, Inc. (AEMD) scores 51 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #68 of 160 scored companies in Medical Devices, the top 42%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 159 companies in Medical Devices. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power & Consumable Moat (100/100) and its weakest is FCF Quality & Cash Conversion (13/100).

How does Aethlon Medical, Inc. compare with other Medical Devices companies?

Aethlon Medical, Inc. ranks #68 of 160 scored companies in Medical Devices by moat score. The widest moat in Medical Devices is iRadimed Corporation (IRMD) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Venus Concept Inc. (VERO) at 51 just above it and Apyx Medical Corporation (APYX) at 50 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Medical Devices & Diagnostics in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 159 companies in Medical Devices. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Aethlon Medical, Inc. scored with the Medical Devices & Diagnostics template?

Medical device and diagnostics companies place an instrument once and then sell the consumables, reagents and service that instrument needs for the next decade. The economics are a razor-and-blade model wrapped in regulatory approval and clinician habit, so the MedTech template scores the durability of that installed base rather than the size of any single product launch.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Aethlon Medical, Inc.?

The Medical Devices & Diagnostics template measures 6 defenses, and AEMD scores: Pricing Power & Consumable Moat (100), R&D Pipeline & Capital Returns (24), FCF Quality & Cash Conversion (13), Commercial Execution (16), Capital Structure & Resilience (70), Growth Durability (14). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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