LAC vs SQM Stock Comparison

Lithium Americas and Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

3 decided of 12

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile leads on 3 of the 12 questions below (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLACSQMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $749.16M $16.27B SQM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -25.1x 11.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 8.1x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +59.0% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 20.6% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.8% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.2x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -67.9% +28.3% SQM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +1.7%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 67.1% 47.1% SQM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 70/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

LACSQM

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

AxisLACSQM
Valuation 92 #14 of 162 81 #32 of 162
Growth – 63 #55 of 147
Profitability – 82 #23 of 122
Financial Health 46 #90 of 166 32 #113 of 166
Shareholder Returns – 91 #11 of 107
Overall – 70
  • LAC ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SQM 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

PeriodLACSQMSPY
1 month -28.3%-17.4% -1.0%
3 months -26.2%-16.9% +2.9%
6 months -55.2%-35.7% +6.4%
Year to date -52.3%-17.0% +11.4%
1 year -67.9%+28.3% +13.1%
3 years -69.1%+10.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year -32.4%+3.4% +21.5%
5 years —+9.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year —+1.7% +10.9%
10 years —+94.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+6.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureLACSQMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.1%47.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 66.0%44.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.480.95 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.010.60 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.3%-73.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -69.0%-40.1% -2.5%
52-week high $6.72$95.31 $779.14
52-week low $2.08$44.36 $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.

MultipleLACSQM
P/E now vs peer median -25.9xmedian 12.7x 11.8xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median —median 3.1x 2.4xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 6.9x 4.8xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 15.1x —median 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 2.1x 1.9xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.27 -0.75median 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 monthsLACSQM
Revenue – $6.73B
Gross profit – $2.83B
Operating income – $3.11B
Net income -$73.07M $1.39B
R&D -$1.00K –
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $4.86
Cash & equivalents $822.78M $3.38B
Total debt $1.34B $19.72B
Shares (diluted) 401.74M 285.64M
Enterprise value -$1.54B $2.93B

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
MetricLACSQM
P/E -25.9x 11.8x
P/FCF – –
P/Operating cash flow – –
P/S – 2.4x
P/B 0.4x 1.9x
P/Tangible book 0.4x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA – 4.8x
EV/EBIT – 5.5x
EV/Revenue – 2.6x
EV/FCF – –
EV/Operating cash flow – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -0.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLACSQM
Revenue growth (1Y) – 59.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -4.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 150.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -9.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 134.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -17.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -33.9% 190.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -7.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 63.7% 190.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -15.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLACSQM
Gross margin – 42.1%
EBITDA margin – 52.7%
Operating margin – 46.2%
Pretax margin – 36.6%
Net margin – 20.6%
FCF margin – –
Operating cash flow margin – –
Return on equity – 16.4%
Return on assets – 8.6%
Return on invested capital – 22.8%
Return on capital employed – 23.4%
Asset turnover – 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – –
Stock comp / revenue – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLACSQM
Debt / assets 27.9% 31.3%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.2x
Debt / FCF – –
Liabilities / assets 44.9% 47.9%
Equity / assets 55.1% 52.1%
Interest coverage – 15.3x
Current ratio 5.5x 2.6x
Quick ratio 3.5x 1.8x
Cash ratio 3.5x 1.5x
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLACSQM
Dividend yield – 4.2%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield – 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusLACSQM
Forward P/E – 8.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.07FY2026 $7.03FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +241.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – -2.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $0.00FY2026 $8.31BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +81.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +3.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLACSQM
Held by institutions 30.8% 13.4%
Institutions holding 274 316
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.6% -3.0%
Institutions buying 149 166
Institutions selling 57 100
Buyers to sellers 2.61 1.66

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.

LACSQM
LAC 1.00 0.51
SQM 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAC and SQM?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lithium Americas (LAC) $749.16M, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) $16.27B.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) returned the most: Lithium Americas (LAC) -67.9%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +28.3%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) has been the steadiest (Lithium Americas (LAC) 67.1%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do LAC and SQM move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.51, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, LAC and SQM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) leads on 3. 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.