Aqua Metals (AQMS) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Aqua Metals Inc. (NASDAQ: AQMS) is a technology-driven environmental company pioneering sustainable battery recycling solutions. The company’s core offering, branded as AquaRefining, utilizes an electrochemical process to recover lead, silver, and plastic components from spent lead-acid batteries without the need for high-temperature smelting. This water-based approach aims to eliminate air emissions and reduce energy consumption compared to conventional recycling methods.

Based in Reno, Nevada, Aqua Metals develops, manufactures, and licenses its proprietary modular recycling systems to industrial battery recyclers and battery manufacturers. The company’s technology allows customers to reclaim high-purity lead and ancillary materials either on-site or through centralized tolling facilities. By focusing on closed-loop recycling, Aqua Metals serves the automotive, stationary power, and material-handling battery sectors, where lead-acid batteries remain the predominant energy storage solution.

Since its founding in 2011, Aqua Metals has advanced from pilot-scale demonstrations to commercial installations, securing partnerships across the United States and exploring opportunities in Europe and Asia. The firm completed its initial public offering in 2018 to support the expansion of its manufacturing capacity, research and development efforts, and deployment of AquaRefining modules. Its demonstration plant in McCarran, Nevada, remains the flagship site for validating process efficiency and environmental performance.

Under the leadership of founder and CEO Dr. Steven Cotton, Aqua Metals is guided by a management team with expertise in electrochemistry, industrial manufacturing, and environmental compliance. The company continues to refine its modular design to meet evolving regulatory standards and growing demand for low-carbon recycling solutions in the global battery market.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $3.61 to $3.77
• 50-Day Range: $3.46 to $6.15
• 52-Week Range: $3.37 to $46.00
• Volume: 22,367 shs
• Average Volume: 27,332 shs
• Market Capitalization: $5.16 million
• P/E Ratio: N/A
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $30.00
• Consensus Rating: Buy

Aqua Metals Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Aqua Metals scored higher than 58% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Buy

Consensus Rating

Aqua Metals has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 3.00, and is based on 1 buy rating, no hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Aqua Metals has a consensus price target of $30.00, representing about 719.7% upside from its current price of $3.66.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Aqua Metals has received no research coverage in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: Growing

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Aqua Metals are expected to grow in the coming year, from ($2.80) to ($1.00) per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Aqua Metals is -0.10, which means that its earnings are negative and its P/E ratio cannot be compared to companies with positive earnings.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Aqua Metals is -0.10, which means that its earnings are negative and its P/E ratio cannot be compared to companies with positive earnings.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Aqua Metals has a P/B Ratio of 0.16. P/B Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.07% of the float of Aqua Metals has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Aqua Metals has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 0.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Aqua Metals has recently decreased by 32.87%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Aqua Metals does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Aqua Metals does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.07% of the float of Aqua Metals has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Aqua Metals has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 0.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Aqua Metals has recently decreased by 32.87%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.14

News Sentiment

Aqua Metals has a news sentiment score of 0.14. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.93 average news sentiment score of Business Services companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 6 news articles for Aqua Metals this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 2 people have searched for AQMS on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -60% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

2 people have added Aqua Metals to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 100% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Aqua Metals insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 8.33% of the stock of Aqua Metals is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

Only 21.98% of the stock of Aqua Metals is held by institutions.

AQMS Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have AQMS shares performed this year?

Aqua Metals' stock was trading at $25.20 at the beginning of the year. Since then, AQMS stock has decreased by 85.5% and is now trading at $3.66.

How were Aqua Metals' earnings last quarter?

Aqua Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQMS) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August, 13th. The business services provider reported ($7.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($6.00) by $1.44.
Read the conference call transcript.

When did Aqua Metals' stock split?

Aqua Metals shares reverse split on Tuesday, November 5th 2024.The 1-20 reverse split was announced on Friday, November 1st 2024. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the market closes on Monday, November 4th 2024. An investor that had 100 shares of stock prior to the reverse split would have 5 shares after the split.

When did Aqua Metals IPO?

Aqua Metals (AQMS) raised $33 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on Friday, July 31st 2015. The company issued 6,600,000 shares at $5.00 per share. National Securities Corporation acted as the underwriter for the IPO and Northland Capital Markets was co-manager.

Who are Aqua Metals' major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Aqua Metals include Baird Financial Group Inc. (32.28%), Geode Capital Management LLC (6.73%) and Group One Trading LLC. Insiders that own company stock include Stephen Cotton, Judd Merrill, Vincent L Divito, Edward J Smith and David Kanen.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Aqua Metals?

Shares of AQMS stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Aqua Metals own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Aqua Metals investors own include Zomedica (ZOM), Jumia Technologies (JMIA), Nano Dimension (NNDM), NIO (NIO), Virgin Galactic (SPCE), NVIDIA (NVDA) and Meta Platforms (META).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/13/2025
• Today: 9/12/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/13/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Business Services
• Industry: Waste Removal Svcs
• Sub-Industry: Steel Works
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:AQMS
• CIK: 1621832
• Web: www.aquametals.com
• Phone: (775) 446-4418
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 20
• Year Founded: 2014

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Aqua Metals: $30.00
• High Price Target: $30.00
• Low Price Target: $30.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +702.1%
• Consensus Rating: Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 3.00
• Research Coverage: 1 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): ($35.94)
• Trailing P/E Ratio: N/A
• Forward P/E Ratio: N/A
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: -$24.55 million
• Net Margins: N/A
• Pretax Margin: N/A
• Return on Equity: -214.23%
• Return on Assets: -135.05%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: N/A
• Current Ratio: 0.65
• Quick Ratio: 0.58

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $30 thousand
• Price / Sales: 175.78
• Cash Flow: N/A
• Price / Cash Flow: N/A
• Book Value: $22.78 per share
• Price / Book: 0.16

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 1,410,000
• Free Float: 1,289,000
• Market Cap: $5.27 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.29