ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) versus Smart Powerr (NASDAQ:CREG) Critical Survey

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

Risk & Volatility

Smart Powerr has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Smart Powerr shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are held by institutional investors. 15.4% of Smart Powerr shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 23.9% of ARQ shares are held by 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 Smart Powerr and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smart Powerr	N/A	-2.68%	-2.35%
ARQ	-43.72%	-1.99%	-1.52%

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smart Powerr	1	0	0	0	1.00
ARQ	1	1	2	1	2.60

ARQ has a consensus target price of $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 195.28%. Given ARQ’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ARQ is more favorable than Smart Powerr.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Smart Powerr and ARQ”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smart Powerr	$173,659.00	26.84	-$1.56 million	($1.73)	-0.13
ARQ	$120.34 million	0.90	-$52.61 million	($1.27)	-2.00

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

Summary

ARQ beats Smart Powerr on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smart Powerr

Smart Powerr Corp. engages in the waste energy recycling business in China. The company provides energy saving and recovery facilities for various energy intensive industries; waste energy recycling systems for use in nonferrous metal plants; and clean-technology and energy-efficient solutions to reduce air pollution and energy shortage problems. It also designs, finances, constructs, and installs the waste energy recycling project to mid to large-size enterprises involved in high energy-consuming businesses; and provides project investment, investment management, economic information consulting, technical, financial leasing, and financial leasing transactions and consulting services; purchases, repairs, and disposes financial leasing assets; sells and leases energy saving systems and equipment. In addition, the company offers waste gas-to-energy solutions comprising the waste gas power generation system that utilizes flammable waste gas to generate electricity; and flammable waste gases emitted from industrial production processes, such as blast furnace gas, and coke furnace gas, oil or gas to power gas-fired generators, as well as uses the waste heat generated in industrial production to make steam to generate electricity through a steam turbine. Further, it markets its projects to the industrial manufacturers to utilize energy recovery projects in their manufacturing processes, including steel, cement, nonferrous metal, coal, and petrochemical industries. The company was formerly known as China Recycling Energy Corporation and changed its name to Smart Powerr Corp. in March 2022. Smart Powerr Corp. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Xi'an, China.

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.