LAC vs ALB vs SGML Stock Comparison

Lithium Americas, Albemarle and Sigma Lithium Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALB Albemarle Corp
$93.66 -17.4% 1M -3.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.04B
P/E
39.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.91B
Div. yield
0.02%
Lithium Basic Materials
6 wins
SGML Sigma Lithium Corp
$7.83 -22.8% 1M +28.2% 1Y
Market cap
$876.59M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$142.49M
Div. yield
–
Lithium Basic Materials
2 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Albemarle leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Albemarle 6, Sigma Lithium 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLACALBSGMLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $749.16M $11.04B $876.59M ALB
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -25.1x 39.6x -31.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 8.5x 25.3x ALB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +18.3% +7.3% ALB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 4.7% -19.3% ALB
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 0.0% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 7.6x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -67.9% -3.8% +28.2% SGML
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -16.6%/yr -3.2%/yr SGML
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 67.1% 55.2% 111.9% ALB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 63/100 43/100 ALB

Percentile Scorecard

LACALBSGML

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisLACALBSGML
Valuation 92 #14 of 162 93 #13 of 162 42 #94 of 162
Growth – 54 #68 of 147 77 #34 of 147
Profitability – 69 #38 of 122 48 #64 of 122
Financial Health 46 #90 of 166 42 #97 of 166 6 #157 of 166
Shareholder Returns – 56 #48 of 107 –
Overall – 63 43
  • LAC ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • ALB ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SGML ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodLACALBSGMLSPY
1 month -28.3%-17.4%-22.8% -1.0%
3 months -26.2%-18.4%-18.7% +2.9%
6 months -55.2%-50.3%-60.2% +6.4%
Year to date -52.3%-33.8%-40.6% +11.4%
1 year -67.9%-3.8%+28.2% +13.1%
3 years -69.1%-32.7%-70.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year -32.4%-12.4%-33.3% +21.5%
5 years —-59.5%-14.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year —-16.6%-3.2% +10.9%
10 years —+13.9%— +255.2%
10 years, per year —+1.3%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureLACALBSGMLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.1%55.2%111.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 66.0%54.2%98.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.481.322.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.01-0.070.25 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.3%-84.4%-89.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -69.0%-56.6%-66.9% -2.5%
52-week high $6.72$215.62$23.65 $779.14
52-week low $2.08$88.45$4.68 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleLACALBSGML
P/E now vs peer median -25.9xmedian 12.7x 39.7xmedian 12.7x -31.6xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median —median 3.1x 1.9xmedian 3.1x 6.1xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 6.9x —median 6.9x 39.0xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 15.1x 8.2xmedian 15.1x 35.9xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 2.1x 1.0xmedian 2.1x 10.6xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.27 -0.66median 0.27 -0.77median 0.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsLACALBSGML
Revenue – $5.91B $142.49M
Gross profit – $1.41B $70.02M
Operating income – – $10.66M
Net income -$73.07M $253.32M -$27.56M
Free cash flow – $1.34B $24.30M
R&D -$1.00K – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $2.04 $-0.25
Cash & equivalents $822.78M $1.63B $16.66M
Total debt $1.34B $1.88B $226.73M
Shares (diluted) 401.74M 136.21M 111.31M
Enterprise value -$1.54B $4.77B $843.76M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricLACALBSGML
P/E -25.9x 39.7x -31.6x
P/FCF – 8.2x 35.9x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.1x 23.1x
P/S – 1.9x 6.1x
P/B 0.4x 1.0x 10.6x
P/Tangible book 0.4x 1.1x 10.6x
EV/EBITDA – – 39.0x
EV/EBIT – – 101.5x
EV/Revenue – 1.9x 7.6x
EV/FCF – 8.4x 44.5x
EV/Operating cash flow – 6.3x 28.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -0.66 -0.77

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLACALBSGML
Revenue growth (1Y) – 18.3% 7.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -15.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 263.2% 130.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -28.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 40.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – –
Net income growth (1Y) -33.9% 127.9% 42.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -60.3% 39.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 63.7% 121.9% 42.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -60.5% 41.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 136.6% 148.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -12.1% 41.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 816.8% 14,876%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 11.5% 30.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLACALBSGML
Gross margin – 23.8% 49.1%
EBITDA margin – – 19.5%
Operating margin – – 7.5%
Pretax margin – – -6.9%
Net margin – 4.7% -19.3%
FCF margin – 22.7% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.5% 26.5%
Return on equity – 2.7% -17.5%
Return on assets – 1.8% -3.4%
Return on invested capital – – 0.0%
Return on capital employed – – 7.9%
Asset turnover – 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 7.1x -1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% 7.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLACALBSGML
Debt / assets 27.9% 11.8% 47.4%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.2x 2.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 7.6x
Debt / FCF – 1.4x 9.3x
Liabilities / assets 44.9% 33.8% 82.8%
Equity / assets 55.1% 66.2% 17.2%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 5.5x 2.1x 0.3x
Quick ratio 3.5x 1.2x 0.2x
Cash ratio 3.5x 0.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – – 0.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLACALBSGML
Dividend yield – 1.7% –
Net buyback yield – -0.2% –
Shareholder yield – 1.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 75.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 14.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 0.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusLACALBSGML
Forward P/E – 8.5xFY2026 25.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.07FY2026 $10.97FY2026 $0.31FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – -2.3% +419.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $0.00FY2026 $5.87BFY2026 $174.11MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +14.2%FY2026 +58.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +9.5% +144.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLACALBSGML
Held by institutions 30.8% 98.1% 33.1%
Institutions holding 274 947 119
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.6% +6.8% +9.7%
Institutions buying 149 449 65
Institutions selling 57 358 40
Buyers to sellers 2.61 1.25 1.63

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

LACALBSGML
LAC 1.00 0.53 0.52
ALB 0.53 1.00 0.52
SGML 0.52 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAC, ALB and SGML?

Albemarle (ALB) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lithium Americas (LAC) $749.16M, Albemarle (ALB) $11.04B, Sigma Lithium (SGML) $876.59M.

Which company is growing faster?

Albemarle (ALB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Albemarle (ALB) +18.3%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) +7.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Albemarle (ALB) has the highest net margin (Albemarle (ALB) 4.7%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) -19.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sigma Lithium (SGML) returned the most: Lithium Americas (LAC) -67.9%, Albemarle (ALB) -3.8%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) +28.2%. Over five years, Sigma Lithium (SGML) compounded fastest (Albemarle (ALB) -16.6%/yr, Sigma Lithium (SGML) -3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Lithium Americas (LAC) 0.00%, Albemarle (ALB) 0.02%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) 0.00%. Lithium Americas (LAC) and Sigma Lithium (SGML) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Albemarle (ALB) has been the steadiest (Lithium Americas (LAC) 67.1%, Albemarle (ALB) 55.2%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) 111.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LAC, ALB and SGML?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Albemarle (ALB) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.