Reviewing ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI) & ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ)

ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI) and ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ASP Isotopes and ARQ’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ASP Isotopes	$433,026.00	408.99	-$16.29 million	($0.49)	-7.39
ARQ	$99.18 million	2.71	-$12.25 million	($0.50)	-16.04

ARQ has higher revenue and earnings than ASP Isotopes. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ASP Isotopes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares ASP Isotopes and ARQ’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ASP Isotopes	N/A	-129.25%	-95.89%
ARQ	-12.35%	-8.35%	-6.16%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

16.8% of ASP Isotopes shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of ARQ shares are held by institutional investors. 26.3% of ASP Isotopes shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 22.2% of ARQ shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

ASP Isotopes has a beta of 5.15, meaning that its stock price is 415% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for ASP Isotopes and ARQ, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ASP Isotopes	0	0	1	0	3.00
ARQ	0	0	0	0	N/A

ASP Isotopes currently has a consensus target price of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 51.93%. Given ASP Isotopes’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ASP Isotopes is more favorable than ARQ.

Summary

ASP Isotopes beats ARQ on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ASP Isotopes

ASP Isotopes Inc., a development stage advanced materials company, focuses on the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of isotopes. It engages in the production and commercialization of Molybdenum-100, a non-radioactive isotope for the medical industry; Carbon-14; and Silicon-28. The company is also developing Quantum Enrichment technology to produce Ytterbium-176, Nickel-64, Lithium 6, Lithium7, and Uranium-235. ASP Isotopes Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Washington, District Of Columbia.

About ARQ

Arq, Inc. produces activated carbon products in North America. The company's products include granular activated carbon, powdered and granular activated carbon, and colloidal carbon products; Arq Powder Wetcake, a fine and low-ash coal waste-derived particle; and additives for air emissions control. Its products are used in various applications, including water treatment, ground water remediation, soil sediments, air emissions, and asphalt additives. The company was formerly known as Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Arq, Inc. in February 2024. Arq, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.