Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) versus Loop Industries (NASDAQ:LOOP) Critical Survey

Loop Industries (NASDAQ:LOOP) and Standard Lithium (NYSE:SLI) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Loop Industries and Standard Lithium’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loop Industries	-14,713.74%	-118.35%	-82.70%
Standard Lithium	N/A	-15.67%	-14.05%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Loop Industries and Standard Lithium”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Loop Industries	$132,000.00	576.23	-$21.09 million	($0.44)	-3.64
Standard Lithium	N/A	N/A	$108.82 million	($0.23)	-8.37

Standard Lithium has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Loop Industries. Standard Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Loop Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.9% of Loop Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by institutional investors. 49.8% of Loop Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of Standard Lithium shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Loop Industries and Standard Lithium, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loop Industries	0	0	0	0	N/A
Standard Lithium	0	0	1	0	3.00

Standard Lithium has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 81.82%. Given Standard Lithium’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Standard Lithium is more favorable than Loop Industries.

Volatility and Risk

Loop Industries has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Standard Lithium has a beta of 1.89, indicating that its share price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Standard Lithium beats Loop Industries on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Loop Industries

Loop Industries, Inc., a technology company, focuses on depolymerizing waste polyethylene terephthalate PET plastics and polyester fibers, including plastic bottles, packaging, carpets and textiles of any color, transparency and even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and salt, to its base building blocks. Its polymerized monomers into virgin-quality PET resins for use in food-grade plastic packaging, such as plastic bottles for water and carbonated soft drinks, and containers for food and other consumer products; and polyester fibers, including textiles, clothing, and apparel. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Terrebonne, Canada.

About Standard Lithium

Standard Lithium Ltd. explores for, develops, and processes lithium brine properties in the United States. Its flagship project is the Lanxess project with area of approximately 150,000 acres located in southern Arkansas. The company was formerly known as Patriot Petroleum Corp. and changed its name to Standard Lithium Ltd. in December 2016. Standard Lithium Ltd. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.