Aqua Metals (AQMS) versus Its Peers Critical Comparison

Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) is one of 39 public companies in the “Waste Removal Svcs” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Aqua Metals to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aqua Metals and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aqua Metals	$30,000.00	-$24.55 million	-0.16
Aqua Metals Competitors	$3.35 billion	$263.08 million	28.77

Aqua Metals’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Aqua Metals and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aqua Metals	N/A	-147.77%	-99.67%
Aqua Metals Competitors	-97.39%	-458.26%	-3.72%

Volatility and Risk

Aqua Metals has a beta of 0.21, meaning that its share price is 79% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aqua Metals’ peers have a beta of 0.63, meaning that their average share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Aqua Metals and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aqua Metals	0	0	2	0	3.00
Aqua Metals Competitors	325	1125	1905	131	2.53

Aqua Metals presently has a consensus target price of $21.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3,397.64%. As a group, “Waste Removal Svcs” companies have a potential upside of 10.96%. Given Aqua Metals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of shares of all “Waste Removal Svcs” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Aqua Metals peers beat Aqua Metals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling activities with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company's technology produces metals and alloys that can be returned into the battery manufacturing supply chain markets, as well as sells metals for use in various advanced manufacturing industries. Its AquaRefining, a low-emissions and recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.