Executive Summary
Lithium Americas Corp. operates as a resource company in the United States.
Rewards
Risk Analysis
Snowflake Analysis
High growth potential and fair value.
Similar Companies
Share Price & News
How has Lithium Americas's share price performed over time and what events caused price changes?
Latest Share Price and Events
Stable Share Price: LAC's share price has been volatile over the past 3 months.
Market Performance
7 Day Return
-3.7%
LAC
4.7%
CA Metals and Mining
0.1%
CA Market
1 Year Return
40.6%
LAC
5.4%
CA Metals and Mining
4.5%
CA Market
Return vs Industry: LAC exceeded the Canadian Metals and Mining industry which returned 5.2% over the past year.
Return vs Market: LAC exceeded the Canadian Market which returned 4.7% over the past year.
Shareholder returns
| LAC | Industry | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Day | -3.7% | 4.7% | 0.1% |
| 30 Day | 32.8% | 4.2% | 0.9% |
| 90 Day | 84.6% | 14.1% | 3.7% |
| 1 Year | 40.6%40.6% | 6.0%5.4% | 7.8%4.5% |
| 3 Year | 31.3%31.3% | 0.2%-1.5% | 18.2%7.5% |
| 5 Year | 98.9%98.9% | 26.6%22.9% | 33.7%14.2% |
Price Volatility Vs. Market
How volatile is Lithium Americas's share price compared to the market and industry in the last 5 years?
Simply Wall St News
2 months ago | Simply Wall St
We're Not So Sure You Should Rely on Lithium Americas's (TSE:LAC) Statutory Earnings4 months ago | Simply Wall St
The Lithium Americas (TSE:LAC) Share Price Is Down 24% So Some Shareholders Are Getting Worried5 months ago | Simply Wall St
How Many Lithium Americas Corp. (TSE:LAC) Shares Did Insiders Buy, In The Last Year?Valuation
Is Lithium Americas undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
9.71x
Price to Earnings (PE) ratio
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Below Fair Value: LAC (CA$6.96) is trading above our estimate of fair value (CA$6.06)
Significantly Below Fair Value: LAC is trading above our estimate of fair value.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: LAC is good value based on its PE Ratio (9.7x) compared to the Metals and Mining industry average (17.4x).
PE vs Market: LAC is good value based on its PE Ratio (9.7x) compared to the Canadian market (16.2x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
PEG Ratio: LAC is good value based on its PEG Ratio (0.2x)
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: LAC is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (2.9x) compared to the CA Metals and Mining industry average (1.6x).
Next Steps
Future Growth
How is Lithium Americas forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 4 analysts?
54.0%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: LAC's forecast earnings growth (54% per year) is above the savings rate (1.4%).
Earnings vs Market: LAC's earnings (54% per year) are forecast to grow faster than the Canadian market (10.9% per year).
High Growth Earnings: earnings are expected to grow significantly over the next 3 years.
Revenue vs Market: LAC's revenue (51.6% per year) is forecast to grow faster than the Canadian market (4.7% per year).
High Growth Revenue: LAC's revenue (51.6% per year) is forecast to grow faster than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: Insufficient data to determine if LAC's Return on Equity is forecast to be high in 3 years time
Next Steps
Past Performance
How has Lithium Americas performed over the past 5 years?
-10.0%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: LAC has a high level of non-cash earnings.
Growing Profit Margin: LAC became profitable in the past.
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: LAC has become profitable over the past 5 years, growing earnings by -10% per year.
Accelerating Growth: LAC has become profitable in the last year, making the earnings growth rate difficult to compare to its 5-year average.
Earnings vs Industry: LAC has become profitable in the last year, making it difficult to compare its past year earnings growth to the Metals and Mining industry (11.9%).
Return on Equity
High ROE: LAC's Return on Equity (29.3%) is considered high.
Return on Assets
Return on Capital Employed
Next Steps
Financial Health
How is Lithium Americas's financial position?
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: LAC's short term assets ($114.2M) exceed its short term liabilities ($11.3M).
Long Term Liabilities: LAC's short term assets ($114.2M) do not cover its long term liabilities ($116.1M).
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: LAC's debt to equity ratio (70%) is considered high.
Reducing Debt: LAC's debt to equity ratio has increased from 6.3% to 70% over the past 5 years.
Balance Sheet
Inventory Level: LAC has a high level of physical assets or inventory.
Debt Coverage by Assets: LAC's debt is not covered by short term assets (assets are 1x debt).
Cash Runway Analysis
For companies that have on average been loss making in the past we assess whether they have at least 1 year of cash runway.
Stable Cash Runway: LAC is profitable, therefore cash runway is not a concern.
Forecast Cash Runway: LAC is profitable, therefore cash runway is not a concern.
Next Steps
Dividend
What is Lithium Americas's current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
Dividend Yield vs Market
Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate LAC's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any payouts.
High Dividend: Unable to evaluate LAC's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any payouts.
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if LAC's dividends per share have been stable in the past.
Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if LAC's dividend payments have been increasing.
Current Payout to Shareholders
Dividend Coverage: Insufficient data to calculate payout ratio to determine if its dividend payments are covered by earnings.
Future Payout to Shareholders
Future Dividend Coverage: No need to calculate the sustainability of LAC's dividend in 3 years as they are not forecast to pay a notable one for the Canadian market.
Next Steps
Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
2.0yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Jon Evans (48yo)
0.8yrs
Tenure
US$541,850
Compensation
Mr. Jonathan D. Evans, also known as Jon, has been Chief Executive Officer and Director at Lithium Americas Corp. since May 2019 and has been its President since September 2018 and was its Director since JÂ ...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Jon's total compensation ($USD541.85K) is below average for companies of similar size in the Canadian market ($USD966.52K).
Compensation vs Earnings: Jon's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 0.8yrs | US$541.85k | 0.089% $556.8k | |
| Executive Vice Chairman | 4.3yrs | US$1.04m | 1.54% $9.6m | |
| Chief Financial Officer | 11.8yrs | US$483.89k | 0.97% $6.0m | |
| President of South American Operations & Director | 3.9yrs | US$918.76k | 0.25% $1.5m | |
| President of North American Operations | 2.5yrs | US$784.37k | 0.42% $2.7m | |
| President of Minera Exar & Director | 4.4yrs | no data | 1.67% $10.4m | |
| Consultant | 0.8yrs | US$1.04m | 0.093% $581.2k | |
| Chief Technical Officer | 1.5yrs | no data | 0.044% $277.3k | |
| Vice President of Corporate Development | 1.5yrs | no data | no data | |
| Senior Vice President of Development | 11.3yrs | US$206.50k | no data |
2.0yrs
Average Tenure
48yo
Average Age
Experienced Management: LAC's management team is considered experienced (2 years average tenure).
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 0.8yrs | US$541.85k | 0.089% $556.8k | |
| Executive Vice Chairman | 4.3yrs | US$1.04m | 1.54% $9.6m | |
| President of South American Operations & Director | 3.9yrs | US$918.76k | 0.25% $1.5m | |
| President of Minera Exar & Director | 4.4yrs | no data | 1.67% $10.4m | |
| Non-Executive Chairman | 3.9yrs | US$161.00k | 7.95% $49.7m | |
| Independent Director | 2.7yrs | US$121.00k | 0.047% $291.6k | |
| Member of Advisory Committee | 0yrs | no data | no data | |
| Independent Director | 0.7yrs | no data | no data | |
| Independent Director | 2.7yrs | US$92.50k | no data | |
| Independent Director | 2.6yrs | US$92.50k | 0.13% $835.2k |
2.7yrs
Average Tenure
53yo
Average Age
Experienced Board: LAC's board of directors are not considered experienced ( 2.7 years average tenure), which suggests a new board.
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: LAC insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
Lithium Americas Corp.'s company bio, employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: Lithium Americas Corp.
- Ticker: LAC
- Exchange: TSX
- Founded: 2007
- Industry: Diversified Metals and Mining
- Sector: Materials
- Market Cap: CA$625.309m
- Shares outstanding: 89.84m
- Website: https://www.lithiumamericas.com
Number of Employees
Location
- Lithium Americas Corp.
- 900 West Hastings Street
- Suite 300
- Vancouver
- British Columbia
- V6C 1E5
- Canada
Listings
| Ticker | Exchange | Primary Security | Security Type | Country | Currency | Listed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAC | TSX (The Toronto Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Shares | CA | CAD | Jul 2008 |
| WUC1 | DB (Deutsche Boerse AG) | Yes | Common Shares | DE | EUR | Jul 2008 |
| LAC | NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Shares | US | USD | Jul 2008 |
Biography
Lithium Americas Corp. operates as a resource company in the United States. The company explores for lithium deposits. It primarily holds interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz Project located in Jujuy province of Argentina; and owns a 100% interest in the Thacker Pass lithium project located in north-western Nevada. The company also manufactures and sells specialty organoclay products for the use in oil and gas industry as specialty viscosifier additives for drilling fluids, as well as in other sectors. The company was formerly known as Western Lithium USA Corporation and changed its name to Lithium Americas Corp. in March 2016. Lithium Americas Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.Â
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2020/02/24 02:23 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2020/02/21 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2019/09/30 |
| Annual Earnings | 2018/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.