Comparing Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) & ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI)
by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets DailyAlbemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Free Report) and ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Albemarle and ASP Isotopes”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Albemarle | $5.91 billion | 2.30 | -$510.63 million | $0.27 | 426.31 |
| ASP Isotopes | $23.85 million | 20.83 | -$175.09 million | ($1.32) | -2.45 |
ASP Isotopes has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Albemarle. ASP Isotopes is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Albemarle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
92.9% of Albemarle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.8% of ASP Isotopes shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Albemarle shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.4% of ASP Isotopes shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Albemarle has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ASP Isotopes has a beta of 3.59, meaning that its stock price is 259% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Albemarle and ASP Isotopes, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Albemarle | 2 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 2.50 |
| ASP Isotopes | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.33 |
Albemarle presently has a consensus target price of $190.04, suggesting a potential upside of 65.11%. ASP Isotopes has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential upside of 301.23%. Given ASP Isotopes’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe ASP Isotopes is more favorable than Albemarle.
Profitability
This table compares Albemarle and ASP Isotopes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Albemarle | 3.09% | 10.96% | 5.39% |
| ASP Isotopes | -427.98% | -64.99% | -32.20% |
Summary
Albemarle beats ASP Isotopes on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services. The Specialties segment provides bromine-based specialty chemicals, including elemental bromine, alkyl and inorganic bromides, brominated powdered activated carbon, and other bromine fine chemicals; lithium specialties, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride; develops and manufactures cesium products for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries; and zirconium, barium, and titanium products for pyrotechnical applications that include airbag initiators. The Ketjen segment offers clean fuels technologies (CFT), which is composed of hydroprocessing catalysts (HPC) together with isomerization and akylation catalysts; fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts and additives; and performance catalyst solutions (PCS), which is composed of organometallics and curatives. The company serves the energy storage, petroleum refining, consumer electronics, construction, automotive, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and crop protection markets. Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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.