Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRM) and Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Critical Comparison

Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRM) and Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Silver Standard Resources and Lithium Americas, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Silver Standard Resources	0	2	8	1	2.91
Lithium Americas	1	8	2	0	2.09

Silver Standard Resources presently has a consensus price target of $38.20, indicating a potential upside of 32.00%. Lithium Americas has a consensus price target of $5.56, indicating a potential upside of 21.06%. Given Silver Standard Resources’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Silver Standard Resources is more favorable than Lithium Americas.

Risk & Volatility

Silver Standard Resources has a beta of -0.14, suggesting that its share price is 114% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lithium Americas has a beta of 2.32, suggesting that its share price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Silver Standard Resources and Lithium Americas”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Silver Standard Resources	$1.63 billion	3.68	$395.75 million	$1.05	27.56
Lithium Americas	N/A	N/A	-$122.09 million	($0.41)	-11.21

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.3% of Silver Standard Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Silver Standard Resources shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Lithium Americas shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Silver Standard Resources and Lithium Americas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Silver Standard Resources	12.17%	14.87%	10.63%
Lithium Americas	N/A	-10.70%	-4.41%

Summary

Silver Standard Resources beats Lithium Americas on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Silver Standard Resources

SSR Mining Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation, acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal resource properties in the United States, Türkiye, Canada, and Argentina. The company explores for gold doré, copper, silver, lead, and zinc deposits. Its mines include the Çöpler, located in Erzincan province, Turkey; the Marigold, located in Nevada, the United States; the Seabee, located in Saskatchewan, Canada; and the Puna, located in Jujuy province, Argentina. The company was formerly known as Silver Standard Resources Inc. and changed its name to SSR Mining Inc. in August 2017. SSR Mining Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas Corp. engages in the exploration and development of lithium properties in the United States and Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Thacker Pass project located in northern Nevada, as well as investments in exploration properties in the United States and Canada. Lithium Americas Corp. was incorporated in 2023 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.