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Lithium Americas Corp LAC

Morningstar Rating
$4.42 −0.07 (1.56%)
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Company Report

Lithium Americas: Shares Plunge on Equity Issuance

Lithium Americas announced plans to issue up to 63.25 million shares, including underwriter options, which is nearly 38% of shares outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2023. The offering will be issued at a price of $5 per share. The equity raise is necessary as it will fully fund the phase 1 capital expenditures for the Thacker Pass project. However, the price is highly dilutive to shareholders. Having updated our model to incorporate the equity issuance, we reduce our Lithium Americas fair value estimates to $12 (CAD 17) from $18 (CAD 24). We maintain our no-moat rating.

Price vs Fair Value

LAC is trading at a 60% discount.
Price
$4.75
Fair Value
$25.00
Uncertainty
Very High
1-Star Price
$14.00
5-Star Price
$2.00
Economic Moat
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Capital Allocation
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Bulls Say, Bears Say

Bulls

As a lithium pure play, Lithium Americas is well positioned to increase profits from EV growth through lithium batteries.

Bears

Thacker Pass is a new greenfield lithium project that will likely face delays and cost overruns, similar to other greenfield projects in the industry.

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News

Trading Information

Previous Close Price
$4.49
Day Range
$4.404.49
52-Week Range
$3.8112.38
Bid/Ask
$4.46 / $4.50
Market Cap
$959.87 Mil
Volume/Avg
4.4 Mil / 4.6 Mil

Key Statistics

Price/Earnings (Normalized)
Price/Sales
Dividend Yield (Trailing)
Dividend Yield (Forward)
Total Yield

Company Profile

Lithium Americas is a pure-play lithium producer. The firm owns one resource, Thacker Pass, that is located in northwest Nevada. Thacker Pass recently began construction and is expected to begin production in the mid-2020s. Thacker Pass is lithium resources. Management plans to develop Thacker Pass into a fully integrated lithium production site, with downstream refining capabilities on site, and will sell into the lithium chemical market.
Sector
Basic Materials
Industry
Other Industrial Metals & Mining
Stock Style Box
Total Number of Employees

Competitors

Valuation

Metric
LAC
LAAC
ALB
Price/Earnings (Normalized)
154.245.18
Price/Book Value
1.860.951.44
Price/Sales
1.41
Price/Cash Flow
0.634.78
Price/Earnings
LAC
LAAC
ALB

Financial Strength

Metric
LAC
LAAC
ALB
Quick Ratio
8.148.700.77
Current Ratio
8.389.161.47
Interest Coverage
−21.85−0.062.71
Quick Ratio
LAC
LAAC
ALB

Profitability

Metric
LAC
LAAC
ALB
Return on Assets (Normalized)
−6.91%0.39%14.67%
Return on Equity (Normalized)
−6.69%0.49%28.28%
Return on Invested Capital (Normalized)
−8.79%−1.09%20.38%
Return on Assets
LAC
LAAC
ALB
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