Financial Comparison: Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) & Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) and Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Electra Battery Materials”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	-$15.23 million	($0.50)	-13.46
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	N/A	-$21.49 million	($1.27)	-0.72

Lithium Americas (Argentina) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Electra Battery Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Electra Battery Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-2.15%	-1.67%
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	-48.57%	-17.70%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.9% of Electra Battery Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Electra Battery Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and Electra Battery Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	1	2	5	2	2.80
Electra Battery Materials	1	0	1	0	2.00

Lithium Americas (Argentina) presently has a consensus price target of $7.44, indicating a potential upside of 10.57%. Electra Battery Materials has a consensus price target of $2.10, indicating a potential upside of 130.77%. Given Electra Battery Materials’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Electra Battery Materials is more favorable than Lithium Americas (Argentina).

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats Electra Battery Materials on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Argentina AG, a resource and materials company, focuses on advancing lithium projects in Argentina. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province; and the Pastos Grandes project located in Salta Province of Argentina. The company was formerly known as Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. and changed its name to Lithium Argentina AG in January 2025. Lithium Argentina AG was incorporated in 2007 is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

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.