Head-To-Head Review: Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) & Ultralife (NASDAQ:ULBI)

Ultralife (NASDAQ:ULBI) and Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ultralife and Electra Battery Materials’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ultralife	$158.64 million	1.09	$7.20 million	$0.64	16.20
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	N/A	-$47.90 million	($0.94)	-0.40

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

Profitability

This table compares Ultralife and Electra Battery Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ultralife	5.96%	9.32%	6.74%
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	-16.87%	-9.73%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Ultralife and Electra Battery Materials, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ultralife	0	0	1	0	3.00
Electra Battery Materials	0	0	2	0	3.00

Ultralife presently has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 35.00%. Electra Battery Materials has a consensus target price of $1.83, suggesting a potential upside of 385.89%. Given Electra Battery Materials’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Electra Battery Materials is more favorable than Ultralife.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

30.7% of Ultralife shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.9% of Electra Battery Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 39.9% of Ultralife shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Electra Battery Materials shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Ultralife has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Electra Battery Materials has a beta of 2.56, suggesting that its share price is 156% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ultralife beats Electra Battery Materials on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ultralife

Ultralife Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, installs, and maintains power, and communication and electronics systems worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Battery & Energy Products and Communications Systems. The Battery & Energy Products segment offers lithium 9-volt, cylindrical, thin lithium manganese dioxide, rechargeable, and other non-rechargeable batteries; lithium-ion cells, multi-kilowatt module lithium-ion battery systems, and uninterruptable power supplies; and rugged military and commercial battery charging systems and accessories, including smart chargers, multi-bay charging systems, and various cables. The Communications Systems segment provides communications systems and accessories to support military communications systems, such as radio frequency amplifiers, power supplies and cables, connector assemblies, amplified speakers, equipment mounts, case equipment, man-portable systems, and integrated communication systems for fixed or vehicle applications comprising vehicle adapters, vehicle installed power enhanced rifleman appliqué systems, and SATCOM systems. This segment's military communications systems and accessories are designed to enhance and extend the operation of communications equipment, such as vehicle-mounted, manpack, and handheld transceivers. The company sells its products under the Ultralife, Ultralife HiRate, Ultralife Thin Cell, Ultralife Batteries, Lithium Power, McDowell Research, AMTITM, ABLETM, ACCUTRONICS, ACCUPRO, ENTELLION, SWE Southwest Electronic Energy Group, SWE SEASAFE, Excell Battery Group, and Criterion Gauge brands through original equipment manufacturers, and industrial and defense supply distributors. In addition, it sells its 9-volt battery to the broader consumer market through national and regional retail chains and online retailers. It serves government, defense, and commercial sectors. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Newark, New York.

About Electra Battery Materials

Electra Battery Materials Corporation engages in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties in the United States and Canada. It primarily explores for cobalt and silver deposits. The company's flagship project is the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project located in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also operates a cobalt refinery for producing battery materials for the electric vehicle supply chain. The company was formerly known as First Cobalt Corp. and changed its name to Electra Battery Materials Corporation in December 2021. Electra Battery Materials Corporation was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.