Critical Comparison: Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) versus Oklo (NYSE:OKLO)

Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) and Gevo (NASDAQ:GEVO) are both energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Oklo has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gevo has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Oklo and Gevo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oklo	N/A	-8.57%	-8.30%
Gevo	-19.38%	-5.06%	-3.41%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Oklo and Gevo, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oklo	2	8	11	2	2.57
Gevo	2	1	2	0	2.00

Oklo presently has a consensus price target of $82.58, indicating a potential upside of 25.58%. Gevo has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 267.23%. Given Gevo’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Gevo is more favorable than Oklo.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Oklo and Gevo”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oklo	N/A	N/A	-$105.66 million	($0.84)	-78.28
Gevo	$160.58 million	2.68	-$33.84 million	($0.13)	-13.62

Gevo has higher revenue and earnings than Oklo. Oklo is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gevo, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.0% of Oklo shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.2% of Gevo shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.9% of Oklo shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Gevo shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

About Oklo

Oklo Inc. designs and develops fission power plants to provide reliable and commercial-scale energy to customers in the United States. It also provides used nuclear fuel recycling services. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

About Gevo

Gevo, Inc. operates as a carbon abatement company. It operates through three segments: Gevo, Agri-Energy, and Renewable Natural Gas. The company focuses on transforming renewable energy into energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons that can be used as renewable fuels. It offers renewable gasoline and diesel, isobutanol, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable natural gas, isobutylene, ethanol, and animal feed and protein. The company was formerly known as Methanotech, Inc. and changed its name to Gevo, Inc. in March 2006. Gevo, Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.