Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ:SGML) vs. ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) Head to Head Review

Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ:SGML) and ESS Tech (NYSE:GWH) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.9% of Sigma Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.8% of ESS Tech shares are held by institutional investors. 48.6% of Sigma Lithium shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of ESS Tech shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Sigma Lithium and ESS Tech, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sigma Lithium	1	2	0	0	1.67
ESS Tech	1	5	1	0	2.00

Sigma Lithium currently has a consensus price target of $7.00, suggesting a potential downside of 38.24%. ESS Tech has a consensus price target of $2.88, suggesting a potential upside of 12.30%. Given ESS Tech’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ESS Tech is more favorable than Sigma Lithium.

Volatility & Risk

Sigma Lithium has a beta of 0.01, meaning that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ESS Tech has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Sigma Lithium and ESS Tech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sigma Lithium	-24.13%	-35.97%	-9.94%
ESS Tech	-1,045.28%	-592.34%	-125.15%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sigma Lithium and ESS Tech”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sigma Lithium	$152.36 million	8.29	-$51.07 million	($0.31)	-36.56
ESS Tech	$6.02 million	8.34	-$86.22 million	($5.10)	-0.50

Sigma Lithium has higher revenue and earnings than ESS Tech. Sigma Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ESS Tech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Sigma Lithium beats ESS Tech on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sigma Lithium

Sigma Lithium Corporation engages in the exploration and development of lithium deposits in Brazil. It holds a 100% interest in the Grota do Cirilo, Genipapo, Santa Clara, and São José properties comprising 29 mineral rights covering an area of approximately 185 square kilometers located in the Araçuaí and Itinga regions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It serves electric vehicle industries worldwide. The company was formerly known as Sigma Lithium Resources Corporation and changed its name to Sigma Lithium Corporation in July 2021. The company is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.

About ESS Tech

ESS Tech, Inc., an energy storage company, designs and produces iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications worldwide. It offers energy storage products, which include Energy Warehouse, a behind-the-meter solution; and Energy Center, a front-of-the-meter solution. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.