Head-To-Head Contrast: American Lithium (OTCMKTS:LIACF) & Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and American Lithium (OTCMKTS:LIACF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Freeport-McMoRan and American Lithium, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Freeport-McMoRan	0	5	10	1	2.75
American Lithium	0	0	0	0	N/A

Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus price target of $53.07, indicating a potential upside of 18.66%. Given Freeport-McMoRan’s higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Freeport-McMoRan is more favorable than American Lithium.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of American Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Freeport-McMoRan shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Freeport-McMoRan and American Lithium’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Freeport-McMoRan	$24.67 billion	2.62	$1.85 billion	$1.13	39.77
American Lithium	N/A	N/A	-$18.80 million	($0.11)	-4.38

Freeport-McMoRan has higher revenue and earnings than American Lithium. American Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Freeport-McMoRan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Freeport-McMoRan has a beta of 1.92, suggesting that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Lithium has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Freeport-McMoRan and American Lithium’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Freeport-McMoRan	7.83%	7.60%	3.95%
American Lithium	N/A	-16.28%	-15.96%

Summary

Freeport-McMoRan beats American Lithium on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About American Lithium

American Lithium Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the identification, acquisition, exploration, and development of resource properties in the United States. It principally focuses on the TLC Claystones project covering an area of approximately 5,052 hectares located in the town of Tonopah, Nevada; and the Falchani Lithium project and the Macusani Uranium project located in Puno, Peru. The company was formerly known as Menika Mining Ltd. and changed its name to American Lithium Corp. in April 2016. American Lithium Corp. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.