Critical Contrast: Aqua Metals (AQMS) & Its Rivals

Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) is one of 39 publicly-traded companies in the “Waste Removal Svcs” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Aqua Metals to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Aqua Metals has a beta of 0.21, suggesting that its stock price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aqua Metals’ rivals have a beta of 0.63, suggesting that their average stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Aqua Metals and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aqua Metals	0	0	2	0	3.00
Aqua Metals Competitors	324	1120	1895	131	2.53

Aqua Metals presently has a consensus price target of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 4,157.43%. As a group, “Waste Removal Svcs” companies have a potential upside of 9.48%. Given Aqua Metals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than its rivals.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aqua Metals and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aqua Metals	N/A	-$24.55 million	-0.13
Aqua Metals Competitors	$3.57 billion	$273.35 million	30.24

Aqua Metals’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Aqua Metals and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aqua Metals	N/A	-147.77%	-99.67%
Aqua Metals Competitors	-97.39%	-458.26%	-3.72%

Summary

Aqua Metals rivals beat Aqua Metals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling activities with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company's technology produces metals and alloys that can be returned into the battery manufacturing supply chain markets, as well as sells metals for use in various advanced manufacturing industries. Its AquaRefining, a low-emissions and recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.