SGML vs SQM vs RIO Stock Comparison

Sigma Lithium, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile and Rio Tinto Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SGML Sigma Lithium Corp
$5.21 -42.7% 1M -19.7% 1Y
Market cap
$580.41M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$142.49M
Div. yield
–
Lithium Basic Materials
1 win
RIO Rio Tinto Plc
$82.71 -12.2% 1M +15.3% 1Y
Market cap
$134.25B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
5.62%
Iron Ore Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Rio Tinto leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Rio Tinto 5, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile 5, Sigma Lithium 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSGMLSQMRIOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $580.41M $15.61B $134.25B RIO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -21.0x 11.3x — –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.8x 7.7x 10.5x 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 0.2x 0.2x — SGML
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 4.43% 5.62% RIO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -19.7% +11.6% +15.3% RIO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.5%/yr -2.3%/yr +5.9%/yr RIO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 114.6% 47.5% 30.9% RIO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 70/100 — SQM

Percentile Scorecard

SGMLSQMRIO

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

AxisSGMLSQMRIO
Valuation 49 #85 of 165 81 #33 of 165 –
Growth 77 #35 of 150 66 #51 of 150 –
Profitability 47 #65 of 122 81 #24 of 122 –
Financial Health 21 #131 of 166 31 #115 of 166 26 #124 of 166
Shareholder Returns – 92 #10 of 107 98 #3 of 107
Overall 49 70 –
  • SGML ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SQM ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining
  • RIO ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSGMLSQMRIOSPY
1 month -42.7%-15.2%-12.2% -2.3%
3 months -50.2%-18.5%-13.8% -0.7%
6 months -76.9%-39.1%-16.1% +4.8%
Year to date -60.5%-20.6%+3.3% +10.3%
1 year -19.7%+11.6%+15.3% +10.3%
3 years -79.9%+9.8%+24.8% +73.0%
3 years, per year -41.4%+3.2%+7.7% +20.1%
5 years -39.2%-10.8%+33.2% +61.9%
5 years, per year -9.5%-2.3%+5.9% +10.1%
10 years —+88.2%+140.1% +258.6%
10 years, per year —+6.5%+9.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSGMLSQMRIOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 114.6%47.5%30.9% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 104.1%44.5%32.5% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.431.051.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.170.240.49 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -89.9%-73.5%-39.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -78.0%-42.7%-26.2% -3.5%
52-week high $23.65$95.31$112.04 $779.14
52-week low $4.68$46.10$67.89 $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.

MultipleSGMLSQMRIO
P/E now vs peer median -21.0xmedian 12.5x 11.3xmedian 12.5x —median 12.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 2.9x 2.3xmedian 2.9x —median 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.1xmedian 7.3x 4.6xmedian 7.3x —median 7.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 14.6x —median 14.6x —median 14.6x
P/B now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 2.1x 1.8xmedian 2.1x 1.9xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median -0.51median 0.28 -1.56median 0.28 —median 0.28

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 monthsSGMLSQMRIO
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 $16.66M $3.38B $8.91B
Total debt $21.45M $5.22B $21.82B
Shares (diluted) 111.31M 285.64M 1.63B
Enterprise value $547.58M $4.63B $101.31B

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
MetricSGMLSQMRIO
P/E -21.0x 11.3x –
P/FCF 23.9x – –
P/Operating cash flow 15.4x – –
P/S 4.1x 2.3x –
P/B 7.1x 1.8x 1.9x
P/Tangible book 7.1x 1.8x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 21.1x 4.6x –
EV/EBIT 54.9x 5.3x –
EV/Revenue 4.1x 2.4x –
EV/FCF 24.1x – –
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.51 -1.56 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSGMLSQMRIO
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.3% 59.0% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 9.0% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 130.5% 150.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 40.5% 134.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -16.6% –
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% -7.2% –
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
MetricSGMLSQMRIO
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
MetricSGMLSQMRIO
Debt / assets 4.5% 31.3% 16.3%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.6x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.2x –
Debt / FCF 0.9x – –
Liabilities / assets 82.8% 47.9% 46.3%
Equity / assets 17.2% 52.1% 53.7%
Interest coverage – 15.3x –
Current ratio 0.3x 2.6x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.2x 1.8x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.5x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 0.02 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSGMLSQMRIO
Dividend yield – 4.4% 5.6%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – 4.4% 5.6%
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.

ConsensusSGMLSQMRIO
Forward P/E 16.8xFY2026 7.7xFY2026 10.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.31FY2026 $7.12FY2026 $7.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +245.6%FY2026 +17.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +419.4% -2.5% +9.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $174.11MFY2026 $8.37BFY2026 $67.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +58.3%FY2026 +82.7%FY2026 +17.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +144.1% +2.9% -8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSGMLSQMRIO
Held by institutions 33.1% 13.4% 7.9%
Institutions holding 119 317 968
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.7% -3.0% -1.1%
Institutions buying 65 166 504
Institutions selling 40 101 283
Buyers to sellers 1.63 1.64 1.78

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.

SGMLSQMRIO
SGML 1.00 0.57 0.40
SQM 0.57 1.00 0.46
RIO 0.40 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SGML, SQM and RIO?

Rio Tinto (RIO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sigma Lithium (SGML) $580.41M, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) $15.61B, Rio Tinto (RIO) $134.25B.

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 Rio Tinto (RIO) returned the most: Sigma Lithium (SGML) -19.7%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +11.6%, Rio Tinto (RIO) +15.3%. Over five years, Rio Tinto (RIO) compounded fastest (Sigma Lithium (SGML) -9.5%/yr, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) -2.3%/yr, Rio Tinto (RIO) +5.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Rio Tinto (RIO) has the highest dividend yield: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 4.43%, Rio Tinto (RIO) 5.62%. Sigma Lithium (SGML) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rio Tinto (RIO) has been the steadiest (Sigma Lithium (SGML) 114.6%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.5%, Rio Tinto (RIO) 30.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SGML, SQM and RIO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Rio Tinto (RIO) leads on 5. 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.