Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) and Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) Financial Survey

Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) and Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ:ELBM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Hycroft Mining has a beta of 2.47, suggesting that its stock price is 147% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Electra Battery Materials has a beta of 2.53, suggesting that its stock price is 153% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Electra Battery Materials”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hycroft Mining	$33.23 million	21.56	-$60.90 million	($1.62)	-5.46
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	N/A	-$21.49 million	($1.23)	-0.83

Electra Battery Materials has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hycroft Mining. Hycroft Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Electra Battery Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

7.4% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.9% of Electra Battery Materials shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Hycroft Mining shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.7% of Electra Battery Materials shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Hycroft Mining and Electra Battery Materials’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hycroft Mining	N/A	N/A	-27.55%
Electra Battery Materials	N/A	-41.78%	-16.56%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Hycroft Mining and Electra Battery Materials, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hycroft Mining	1	0	0	0	1.00
Electra Battery Materials	1	0	1	0	2.00

Electra Battery Materials has a consensus price target of $2.20, indicating a potential upside of 114.63%. Given Electra Battery Materials’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Electra Battery Materials is more favorable than Hycroft Mining.

Summary

Electra Battery Materials beats Hycroft Mining on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hycroft Mining

Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a gold and silver development company in the United States. The company holds interests in the Hycroft mine that consists of 30 private parcels with patented claims comprising approximately 1,787 acres, and 3,247 unpatented mining claims that encompass approximately 62,298 acres located in the state of Nevada. Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation is based in Winnemucca, Nevada.

About Electra Battery Materials

Electra Battery Materials Corporation engages in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties in the United States and Canada. It primarily explores for cobalt and silver deposits. The company's flagship project is the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project located in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also operates a cobalt refinery for producing battery materials for the electric vehicle supply chain. The company was formerly known as First Cobalt Corp. and changed its name to Electra Battery Materials Corporation in December 2021. Electra Battery Materials Corporation was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.