Head-To-Head Analysis: U.S. Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) vs. Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC) and U.S. Gold (NASDAQ:USAU) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and U.S. Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	0	4	4	1	2.67
U.S. Gold	0	0	1	0	3.00

Lithium Americas (Argentina) presently has a consensus target price of $8.21, suggesting a potential upside of 230.98%. U.S. Gold has a consensus target price of $11.00, suggesting a potential upside of 84.87%. Given Lithium Americas (Argentina)’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lithium Americas (Argentina) is more favorable than U.S. Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and U.S. Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	-0.25%	-0.20%
U.S. Gold	N/A	-42.73%	-32.88%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

49.2% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.6% of U.S. Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.8% of Lithium Americas (Argentina) shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of U.S. Gold shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Lithium Americas (Argentina) has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, U.S. Gold has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lithium Americas (Argentina) and U.S. Gold”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lithium Americas (Argentina)	N/A	N/A	$1.29 billion	$7.99	0.31
U.S. Gold	N/A	N/A	-$6.90 million	($0.73)	-8.15

U.S. Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lithium Americas (Argentina), indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lithium Americas (Argentina) beats U.S. Gold on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About U.S. Gold

U.S. Gold Corp. engages in the exploration and development of gold and precious metals in the United States. It also explores for copper and silver deposits. The company holds 100% interests in the CK Gold project, which consists of various mining leases and other mineral rights covering approximately 1,120 acres in Laramie County, Wyoming; the Keystone project that consists of 601 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 20 square miles in Eureka County, Nevada; and the Challis Gold project, which consists of 77 unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 1,710 acres in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also has earn-in agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in the Maggie Creek project located in Eureka County, Nevada. The company was formerly known as Dataram Corporation and changed its name to U.S. Gold Corp. in June 2017. U.S. Gold Corp. is based in Elko, Nevada.