Critical Analysis: Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) and Critical Metals (NASDAQ:CRML)

Sibanye Gold (NYSE:SBSW) and Critical Metals (NASDAQ:CRML) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

34.9% of Sibanye Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of Critical Metals shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Sibanye Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 65.7% of Critical Metals shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sibanye Gold and Critical Metals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sibanye Gold	$6.12 billion	N/A	-$398.42 million	$0.52	16.46
Critical Metals	N/A	N/A	-$147.49 million	N/A	N/A

Critical Metals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sibanye Gold.

Risk and Volatility

Sibanye Gold has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Critical Metals has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Sibanye Gold and Critical Metals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sibanye Gold	0	4	1	0	2.20
Critical Metals	0	0	0	0	0.00

Sibanye Gold currently has a consensus price target of $6.07, indicating a potential downside of 29.13%. Given Sibanye Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sibanye Gold is more favorable than Critical Metals.

Profitability

This table compares Sibanye Gold and Critical Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sibanye Gold	N/A	N/A	N/A
Critical Metals	N/A	N/A	N/A

About Sibanye Gold

Sibanye Stillwater Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals mining company in South Africa, the United States, Europe, and Australia. The company produces gold; platinum group metals (PGMs), including palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium; chrome; nickel; and silver, cobalt, and copper. It owns the East Boulder and Stillwater mines located in Montana, the United States; and Columbus metallurgical complex, which smelts the material mined to produce PGM-rich filter cake, as well as conducts PGM recycling activities. The company also involved in the Kroondal, Rustenburg, Marikana, and Platinum Mile operations situated in South Africa; Mimosa located on the southern portion in Zimbabwe; the Driefontein, Kloof, Rand Refinery, and Cooke surface operations located on the West Rand of the Witwatersrand Basin; and the Beatrix situated in the southern Free State. In addition, it owns an interest in surface tailings retreatment facilities; the Marathon PGM project in Ontario, Canada; the Altar and Rio Grande copper gold projects in the Andes in north-west Argentina; the Hoedspruit; and the Burnstone and southern Free State gold projects in South Africa. Sibanye Stillwater Limited was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Weltevreden Park, South Africa.

About Critical Metals

Critical Metals Corp. engages in the mining, exploration, and development of lithium metals. It owns Wolfsberg Project and Tanbreez Project. The company was founded on October 24, 2022 and is headquartered in British Virgin Islands.