Contrasting Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) & Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM)

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) and Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas and Wheaton Precious Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas	N/A	-15.07%	-6.55%
Wheaton Precious Metals	63.58%	17.17%	16.51%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Lithium Americas and Wheaton Precious Metals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas	1	8	2	0	2.09
Wheaton Precious Metals	0	1	13	0	2.93

Lithium Americas presently has a consensus price target of $5.71, indicating a potential upside of 3.48%. Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus price target of $155.45, indicating a potential upside of 25.19%. Given Wheaton Precious Metals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Wheaton Precious Metals is more favorable than Lithium Americas.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Lithium Americas 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lithium Americas and Wheaton Precious Metals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas	N/A	N/A	-$122.09 million	($0.46)	-12.00
Wheaton Precious Metals	$2.31 billion	24.36	$1.47 billion	$3.24	38.33

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

Risk and Volatility

Lithium Americas has a beta of 2.5, suggesting that its stock price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats Lithium Americas on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.