Critical Review: Tronox (NYSE:TROX) & ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI)

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) and ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Tronox and ASP Isotopes, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tronox	3	3	4	0	2.10
ASP Isotopes	1	0	1	0	2.00

Tronox presently has a consensus target price of $5.10, suggesting a potential upside of 38.59%. ASP Isotopes has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.75%. Given Tronox’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Tronox is more favorable than ASP Isotopes.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.4% of Tronox shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of ASP Isotopes shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Tronox shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.4% of ASP Isotopes shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Tronox and ASP Isotopes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tronox	-8.48%	-4.83%	-1.40%
ASP Isotopes	-2,181.62%	-239.22%	-98.70%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Tronox and ASP Isotopes”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Tronox	$3.07 billion	0.19	-$48.00 million	($1.58)	-2.33
ASP Isotopes	$4.58 million	182.76	-$32.33 million	($0.61)	-14.93

ASP Isotopes has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Tronox. ASP Isotopes is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tronox, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Tronox has a beta of 1.28, suggesting that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ASP Isotopes has a beta of 3.29, suggesting that its share price is 229% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Tronox beats ASP Isotopes on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Tronox

Tronox Holdings plc operates as a vertically integrated manufacturer of TiO2 pigment in North America, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates titanium-bearing mineral sand mines; and engages in beneficiation and smelting operations. It offers TiO2 pigment; ultrafine specialty TiO2; zircon; feedstock; pig iron; monazite; titanium tetrachloride; and other products. The company’s products are used for the manufacture of paints, coatings, plastics, and paper, as well as various other applications. Tronox Holdings plc is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

About ASP Isotopes

ASP Isotopes Inc., a development stage advanced materials company, focuses on the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of isotopes. It engages in the production and commercialization of Molybdenum-100, a non-radioactive isotope for the medical industry; Carbon-14; and Silicon-28. The company is also developing Quantum Enrichment technology to produce Ytterbium-176, Nickel-64, Lithium 6, Lithium7, and Uranium-235. ASP Isotopes Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Washington, District Of Columbia.