Critical Comparison: Namib Minerals (NASDAQ:NAMM) and Austin Gold (NYSE:AUST)

Namib Minerals (NASDAQ:NAMM) and Austin Gold (NYSE:AUST) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Namib Minerals and Austin Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Namib Minerals	N/A	N/A	-56.66%
Austin Gold	N/A	-37.85%	-36.54%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.5% of Namib Minerals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.1% of Austin Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 30.5% of Namib Minerals shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 70.7% of Austin Gold shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Namib Minerals has a beta of -0.14, indicating that its share price is 114% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Austin Gold has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Namib Minerals and Austin Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Namib Minerals	N/A	N/A	-$20.75 million	($1.27)	-0.88
Austin Gold	N/A	N/A	-$4.00 million	($0.14)	-12.79

Austin Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Namib Minerals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Namib Minerals and Austin Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Namib Minerals	1	0	0	0	1.00
Austin Gold	0	0	0	0	0.00

Summary

Austin Gold beats Namib Minerals on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Namib Minerals

Namib Minerals is a gold producer, developer and explorer with operations focused principally in Zimbabwe. Namib Minerals, formerly known as Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VI, is based in New York.

About Austin Gold

Austin Gold Corp., a gold exploration company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral property interests in Nevada. The company holds interest in Kelly Creek Project located in the Kelly Creek Basin, in southeastern Humboldt County, Nevada; Fourmile Basin Project that comprises various unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 6410 acres located in Nye County; the Lone Mountain Project consisting of various unpatented lode mining and patented mining claims located near Lone Mountain in Elko County. It also holds interest in the Miller Project consisting various unpatented lode mining claims located in Elko County in Nevada. Austin Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.