374Water (NASDAQ:SCWO) versus PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) Critical Review

374Water (NASDAQ:SCWO) and PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares 374Water and PureCycle Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
374Water	-911.15%	-160.15%	-118.22%
PureCycle Technologies	N/A	-143.06%	-23.17%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares 374Water and PureCycle Technologies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
374Water	$440,000.00	90.75	-$12.43 million	($0.12)	-19.67
PureCycle Technologies	N/A	N/A	-$289.14 million	($1.46)	-6.17

374Water has higher revenue and earnings than PureCycle Technologies. 374Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PureCycle Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

374Water has a beta of -0.07, indicating that its share price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PureCycle Technologies has a beta of 2.11, indicating that its share price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

12.2% of 374Water shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.0% of PureCycle Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.3% of 374Water shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.7% of PureCycle Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for 374Water and PureCycle Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
374Water	1	0	0	0	1.00
PureCycle Technologies	1	1	3	2	2.86

PureCycle Technologies has a consensus target price of $13.67, suggesting a potential upside of 51.68%. Given PureCycle Technologies’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe PureCycle Technologies is more favorable than 374Water.

Summary

PureCycle Technologies beats 374Water on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About 374Water

374Water Inc. provides a technology that transforms wet wastes into recoverable resources in the United States. The company transforms wet wastes, including sewage sludge, biosolids, food waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, and forever chemicals. It offers AirSCWO systems, a waste stream treatment system based on supercritical water oxidation that are used to treat various hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams. It serves Industrial, agricultural, defense, oil and gas, waste management, sanitation project, environmental remediation and compliance, and municipal markets. 374Water Inc. is based in Durham, North Carolina.

About PureCycle Technologies

PureCycle Technologies, Inc. engages in the production of recycled polypropylene (PP). The company holds a license for restoring waste PP into ultra-pure recycled polypropylene resin that has multiple applications, including packaging and labeling for consumer products, piping, ropes, cabling, and plastic parts for various industries. Its recycling process separates color, odor, and other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like resin. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.