Comparing Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) & ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ)

ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) and Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.9% of ARQ shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

ARQ has a beta of 1.97, indicating that its stock price is 97% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aqua Metals has a beta of -0.03, indicating that its stock price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for ARQ and Aqua Metals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARQ	1	1	2	1	2.60
Aqua Metals	1	0	1	0	2.00

ARQ presently has a consensus price target of $8.75, suggesting a potential upside of 152.89%. Aqua Metals has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 526.30%. Given Aqua Metals’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than ARQ.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARQ	-3.33%	-1.11%	-0.86%
Aqua Metals	N/A	-274.21%	-159.86%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ARQ and Aqua Metals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARQ	$108.96 million	1.36	-$5.11 million	($0.10)	-34.60
Aqua Metals	$30,000.00	475.81	-$24.55 million	($30.53)	-0.16

ARQ has higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aqua Metals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ARQ beats Aqua Metals on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. is a holding company. It engages in the provision of environmental and emission control equipment to the power generation industry. The company operates through the following Segments: Refined Coal and Advanced Purification Technologies. The Refined Coal segment includes the Tinuum Group, Tinuum Services, and GWN Manager. The Advanced Purification Technologies segment refers to the sale of Activated Carbon Injection and Dry Sorbent Injection equipment systems, chemical sales, consulting services, and other sales related to the reduction of emissions in the coal-fired electric generation process and the electric utility industry. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, CO.

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.