RIO vs SGML vs SQM Stock Comparison

Rio Tinto, Sigma Lithium and Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RIO Rio Tinto Plc
$85.74 -9.3% 1M +20.9% 1Y
Market cap
$139.16B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
5.42%
Iron Ore Basic Materials
4 wins
SGML Sigma Lithium Corp
$8.45 -11.8% 1M +50.4% 1Y
Market cap
$941.36M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$142.49M
Div. yield
–
Lithium Basic Materials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile 6, Rio Tinto 4, Sigma Lithium 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionRIOSGMLSQMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $139.16B $941.36M $17.23B RIO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — -34.1x 12.4x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.9x 27.3x 8.5x SQM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +7.3% +59.0% SQM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -19.3% 20.6% SQM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.0% 22.8% SQM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 7.6x 0.2x SQM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 5.42% — 4.01% RIO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.9% +50.4% +36.0% SGML
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.9%/yr -0.2%/yr +2.3%/yr RIO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.7% 111.9% 47.3% RIO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 42/100 69/100 SQM

Percentile Scorecard

RIOSGMLSQM

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

AxisRIOSGMLSQM
Valuation – 40 #98 of 162 81 #32 of 162
Growth – 77 #34 of 147 62 #56 of 147
Profitability – 46 #66 of 122 81 #24 of 122
Financial Health 22 #128 of 164 6 #154 of 164 32 #112 of 164
Shareholder Returns 98 #3 of 107 – 90 #12 of 107
Overall – 42 69
  • RIO ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SGML 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

PeriodRIOSGMLSQMSPY
1 month -9.3%-11.8%-9.7% -0.2%
3 months -6.4%-11.0%-9.8% +3.9%
6 months -12.9%-59.0%-32.5% +8.2%
Year to date +7.1%-35.9%-12.3% +12.9%
1 year +20.9%+50.4%+36.0% +12.3%
3 years +34.5%-69.5%+18.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +10.4%-32.7%+5.7% +23.3%
5 years +32.9%-1.1%+11.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.9%-0.2%+2.3% +10.9%
10 years +150.4%—+104.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.6%—+7.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureRIOSGMLSQMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.7%111.9%47.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.1%98.8%43.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.282.170.98 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.680.450.76 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.0%-89.9%-73.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.5%-64.3%-36.7% -1.2%
52-week high $112.04$23.65$95.31 $779.14
52-week low $67.89$4.68$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.

MultipleRIOSGMLSQM
P/E now vs peer median —median 13.3x -34.1xmedian 13.3x 12.4xmedian 13.3x
P/S now vs peer median —median 3.2x 6.6xmedian 3.2x 2.6xmedian 3.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 7.3x 41.4xmedian 7.3x 5.1xmedian 7.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 14.7x 38.7xmedian 14.7x —median 14.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.2x 11.4xmedian 2.2x 2.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.31 -0.83median 0.31 -0.79median 0.31

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 monthsRIOSGMLSQM
Revenue – $142.49M $6.73B
Gross profit – $70.02M $2.83B
Operating income – $10.66M $3.11B
Net income – -$27.56M $1.39B
Free cash flow – $24.30M –
EPS (diluted) – $-0.25 $4.86
Cash & equivalents $8.87B $16.66M $3.38B
Total debt $16.90B $226.73M $19.72B
Shares (diluted) 1.63B 111.31M 285.64M
Enterprise value $99.67B $908.52M $6.26B

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
MetricRIOSGMLSQM
P/E – -34.1x 12.4x
P/FCF – 38.7x –
P/Operating cash flow – 24.9x –
P/S – 6.6x 2.6x
P/B 2.1x 11.4x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 11.4x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA – 41.4x 5.1x
EV/EBIT – 108.0x 5.8x
EV/Revenue – 8.1x 2.7x
EV/FCF – 47.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 30.5x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -0.83 -0.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRIOSGMLSQM
Revenue growth (1Y) – 7.3% 59.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – -4.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 130.5% 150.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – -9.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 40.5% 134.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – -17.5%
Net income growth (1Y) – 42.1% 190.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 39.5% -7.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 42.6% 190.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 41.0% -15.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 148.2% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 41.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 14,876% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 30.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRIOSGMLSQM
Gross margin – 49.1% 42.1%
EBITDA margin – 19.5% 52.7%
Operating margin – 7.5% 46.2%
Pretax margin – -6.9% 36.6%
Net margin – -19.3% 20.6%
FCF margin – 17.1% –
Operating cash flow margin – 26.5% –
Return on equity – -17.5% 16.4%
Return on assets – -3.4% 8.6%
Return on invested capital – 0.0% 22.8%
Return on capital employed – 7.9% 23.4%
Asset turnover – 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue – 7.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRIOSGMLSQM
Debt / assets – 47.4% 31.3%
Debt / equity 0.3x 2.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 7.6x 0.2x
Debt / FCF – 9.3x –
Liabilities / assets – 82.8% 47.9%
Equity / assets – 17.2% 52.1%
Interest coverage – – 15.3x
Current ratio 1.4x 0.3x 2.6x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.2x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.1x 1.5x
Altman Z-score – 0.57 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRIOSGMLSQM
Dividend yield 5.4% – 4.0%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 5.4% – 4.0%
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.

ConsensusRIOSGMLSQM
Forward P/E 10.9xFY2026 27.3xFY2026 8.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.84FY2026 $0.31FY2026 $7.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2026 – +245.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.1% +419.4% -2.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $67.58BFY2026 $174.11MFY2026 $8.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.2%FY2026 +58.3%FY2026 +82.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.0% +144.1% +2.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRIOSGMLSQM
Held by institutions 7.9% 33.1% 13.4%
Institutions holding 968 119 316
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +9.7% -3.0%
Institutions buying 504 65 166
Institutions selling 283 40 100
Buyers to sellers 1.78 1.63 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.

RIOSGMLSQM
RIO 1.00 0.42 0.46
SGML 0.42 1.00 0.59
SQM 0.46 0.59 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RIO, SGML and SQM?

Rio Tinto (RIO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Rio Tinto (RIO) $139.16B, Sigma Lithium (SGML) $941.36M, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) $17.23B.

Which company is growing faster?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sigma Lithium (SGML) +7.3%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +59.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) has the highest net margin (Sigma Lithium (SGML) -19.3%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 20.6%). On return on invested capital, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) leads (Sigma Lithium (SGML) 0.0%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 22.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sigma Lithium (SGML) returned the most: Rio Tinto (RIO) +20.9%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) +50.4%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +36.0%. Over five years, Rio Tinto (RIO) compounded fastest (Rio Tinto (RIO) +5.9%/yr, Sigma Lithium (SGML) -0.2%/yr, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +2.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Rio Tinto (RIO) has the highest dividend yield: Rio Tinto (RIO) 5.42%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 4.01%. Sigma Lithium (SGML) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rio Tinto (RIO) has been the steadiest (Rio Tinto (RIO) 30.7%, Sigma Lithium (SGML) 111.9%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, RIO, SGML 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 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.