Waste Management (NYSE:WM) and Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) Head to Head Analysis

Aqua Metals (NASDAQ:AQMS) and Waste Management (NYSE:WM) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

22.0% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Waste Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Aqua Metals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Waste Management shares are owned by 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.

Profitability

This table compares Aqua Metals and Waste Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aqua Metals	N/A	-214.23%	-135.05%
Waste Management	11.36%	34.37%	6.91%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Aqua Metals and Waste Management, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aqua Metals	0	0	1	0	3.00
Waste Management	0	9	13	2	2.71

Aqua Metals presently has a consensus price target of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 411.07%. Waste Management has a consensus price target of $255.17, indicating a potential upside of 16.26%. Given Aqua Metals’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Aqua Metals is more favorable than Waste Management.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aqua Metals and Waste Management”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aqua Metals	N/A	N/A	-$24.55 million	($35.94)	-0.16
Waste Management	$22.06 billion	4.01	$2.75 billion	$6.74	32.56

Waste Management has higher revenue and earnings than Aqua Metals. Aqua Metals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Waste Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Aqua Metals has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Waste Management has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Waste Management beats Aqua Metals on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aqua Metals

Aqua Metals, Inc. engages in reinventing metals recycling activities with its patented AquaRefining technology. The company's technology produces metals and alloys that can be returned into the battery manufacturing supply chain markets, as well as sells metals for use in various advanced manufacturing industries. Its AquaRefining, a low-emissions and recycling technology that replaces polluting furnaces and hazardous chemicals with electricity-powered electroplating to recover valuable metals and materials from spent batteries. Aqua Metals, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned or operated 254 solid waste landfills, five secure hazardous waste landfills, 97 MRFs, and 337 transfer stations. It also provides materials processing and commodities recycling services at its MRFs, where cardboard, paper, glass, metals, plastics, construction and demolition materials, and other recycling commodities are recovered for resale or redirected for other purposes; recycling brokerage services, such as managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and other strategic business solutions. In addition, the company offers construction and remediation services; services related with the disposal of fly ash, and residue generated from the combustion of coal and other fuel stocks; in-plant services comprising full-service waste management solutions and consulting services; and specialized disposal services for oil and gas exploration and production operations. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.