Lithium Americas (LAC) Competitors

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) and Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, LAC or PLL?

Lithium Americas has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Piedmont Lithium. Lithium Americas is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Piedmont Lithium, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas	N/A	N/A	-$42.53M	-$0.23	-12.33
Piedmont Lithium	$99.88M	1.61	-$64.76M	-$2.56	-2.86

Do analysts rate LAC or PLL?

Lithium Americas presently has a consensus target price of $4.15, indicating a potential upside of 46.38%. Piedmont Lithium has a consensus target price of $10.94, indicating a potential upside of 49.32%. Given Piedmont Lithium's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Piedmont Lithium is more favorable than Lithium Americas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Piedmont Lithium	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of LAC or PLL?

52.2% of Piedmont Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Lithium Americas shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Piedmont Lithium shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is LAC or PLL more profitable?

Lithium Americas has a net margin of 0.00% compared to Piedmont Lithium's net margin of -50.60%. Lithium Americas' return on equity of -7.66% beat Piedmont Lithium's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas	N/A	-7.66%	-4.74%
Piedmont Lithium	-50.60%	-18.57%	-16.06%

Does the media prefer LAC or PLL?

In the previous week, Lithium Americas had 1 more articles in the media than Piedmont Lithium. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Lithium Americas and 2 mentions for Piedmont Lithium. Lithium Americas' average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Piedmont Lithium's score of 0.86 indicating that Lithium Americas is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lithium Americas	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Piedmont Lithium	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, LAC or PLL?

Lithium Americas has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Lithium has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lithium Americas beats Piedmont Lithium on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.