SQM vs LAC Stock Comparison

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile and Lithium Americas 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.

QuestionSQMLACLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.27B $749.16M SQM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 11.7x -25.1x –
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 +28.3% -67.9% SQM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.7%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.1% 67.1% SQM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 — –

Percentile Scorecard

SQMLAC

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

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

PeriodSQMLACSPY
1 month -17.4%-28.3% -1.0%
3 months -16.9%-26.2% +2.9%
6 months -35.7%-55.2% +6.4%
Year to date -17.0%-52.3% +11.4%
1 year +28.3%-67.9% +13.1%
3 years +10.4%-69.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +3.4%-32.4% +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

MeasureSQMLACSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.1%67.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.1%66.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.952.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.60-1.01 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.5%-82.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.1%-69.0% -2.5%
52-week high $95.31$6.72 $779.14
52-week low $44.36$2.08 $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.

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

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
MetricSQMLAC
P/E 11.8x -25.9x
P/FCF – –
P/Operating cash flow – –
P/S 2.4x –
P/B 1.9x 0.4x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 0.4x
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
MetricSQMLAC
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) 190.5% -33.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -7.2% –
EPS growth (1Y) 190.5% 63.7%
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
MetricSQMLAC
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
MetricSQMLAC
Debt / assets 31.3% 27.9%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x –
Debt / FCF – –
Liabilities / assets 47.9% 44.9%
Equity / assets 52.1% 55.1%
Interest coverage 15.3x –
Current ratio 2.6x 5.5x
Quick ratio 1.8x 3.5x
Cash ratio 1.5x 3.5x
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSQMLAC
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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

SQMLAC
SQM 1.00 0.51
LAC 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SQM and LAC?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) returned the most: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +28.3%, Lithium Americas (LAC) -67.9%. 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 (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.1%, Lithium Americas (LAC) 67.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do SQM and LAC 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, SQM and LAC?

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.