Lithium Americas Corp (LAC)
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symbol.quality_heading
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Yellow, and deliberately neither green nor red. Not green, because the material operational question is simply still open: the company has no revenue, expects none before production begins per the quarterly report for March 31, 2026, and its entire value rests on whether a plant reaches mechanical completion by the end of 2027 — a plant whose definitive cost estimate is not due until the second half of 2026, with the existing figure of $2.93 billion expressly excluding tariffs the company puts at $80 million to $120 million. Not red, because no risk to the substance of the business is documented: there is no going-concern warning, equity attributable to shareholders is $1,343.9 million, cash of $1,207.6 million covers the operating outflow of $18.3 million per quarter many times over, repayment of the federal loan does not begin until January 2029, and all loan covenants were met as of March 31, 2026. The dilution from 161.8 million to 361.8 million shares is substantial and expensive for existing holders — but it threatens their share of the company, not the company itself. Whether the stock is cheap or expensive is a separate matter, decided by the scanners rather than by this rating. The decision is yours.
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The largest lithium mine in the Western world is taking shape in Nevada, with General Motors as co-owner and a $2.23 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. More than 1,300 people were working on the site in mid-May 2026, and $1.28 billion had been spent by March 31, 2026. Only one thing is entirely missing from the filings with the U.S. securities regulator, the SEC: a revenue line. That arrives with the production ramp-up in 2028 at the earliest. Until then the build is paid for by lenders, by a carmaker — and by shareholders, whose stake was diluted from 161.8 million shares at the end of 2023 to 361.8 million in June 2026. Not investment advice — just the question of who ends up owning the mine.
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This analysis is as of August 2, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at LAC since then.
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Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
NeutralZehn Filings — Geschäftsberichte 10-K für 2025 und 2024, Nachtrag 10-K/A, die Quartalsberichte 10-Q zum 31.03.2026, 30.09.2025, 30.06.2025 und 31.03.2025, Ergebnismitteilung 8-K mit Anlage 99.1, Regalprospekt S-3ASR und Prospektnachtrag 424B5 — enthalten keine einzige Fundstelle zu künstlicher Intelligenz, maschinellem Lernen, generativen Modellen oder Automatisierung. Lithium Americas ist ein vor-operativer Bergbau-Entwickler, dessen Wertschöpfung an Bau und Betrieb der Lithiumanlage Thacker Pass hängt; weder das Geschäftsmodell noch die Risikofaktoren nehmen auf KI Bezug, und es gibt keinen belegten Verdrängungs- oder Nutzungsbezug.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-19 · 10-K/A 2026-04-30 · 10-K 2025-03-28 · 10-Q 2026-05-14 · 10-Q 2025-11-13 · 10-Q 2025-08-14 · 10-Q 2025-05-15 · 8-K 2026-05-14 · S-3ASR 2026-06-26 · 424B5 2026-03-19
Rated on August 2, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q2 | -0.01 | -106.30 | 0 | – | -36,917,647.10 | -3 | -34 |
| 2024: Q3 | 0.00 | 95.10 | 0 | – | – | 0 | -35 |
| 2024: Q4 | -0.04 | 42.90 | 0 | – | – | -10 | -75 |
| 2025: Q1 | -0.05 | -150.00 | 0 | -100.00 | – | -19 | -137 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.06 | -500.00 | 0 | -100.00 | – | -31 | -266 |
| 2025: Q3 | -0.03 | -782.40 | 0 | – | – | 2 | -170 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.25 | -530.50 | 0 | 100.00 | – | -15 | -265 |
| 2026: Q1 | -0.03 | 40.00 | 0 | – | – | -18 | -313 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Thacker Pass is, according to the company, the largest known measured and indicated lithium resource in the world; proven and probable reserves stood at 1,056.7 million tonnes of run-of-mine ore containing 14.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent as of December 31, 2025 (100 percent project basis). General Motors holds 38 percent and is tied in through 20-year offtake agreements — backing few developers of this size can claim.
As of March 31, 2026 the books held $1,207.6 million of cash and restricted cash, while operating cash outflow for the quarter was only $18.3 million. Of the $2.23 billion Department of Energy loan, two tranches of $435.0 million and $432.0 million had been drawn; repayment does not start until January 2029. The company considers itself funded for at least twelve months.
There is no revenue and, per the quarterly report for March 31, 2026, none until production begins; mechanical completion is targeted for late 2027 and the ramp-up for 2028. The reported quarterly profit of $4.6 million included $5.0 million belonging to the non-controlling interest and arose from a valuation gain triggered by the company's own share price falling from $4.36 to $3.95.
Shares outstanding rose from 161.8 million (December 31, 2023) to 361.8 million (June 24, 2026), up 124 percent. In addition, the shelf prospectus of June 26, 2026 registers up to 69,417,541 shares for the U.S. Department of Energy, which the document puts at 19.19 percent of voting power. Economically, an LAC shareholder owns 62 percent of the project, and 59 percent after full exercise of the joint-venture warrant.
The capital estimate of $2.93 billion comes from the technical report dated December 31, 2024 and, per the earnings release of May 14, 2026, expressly contains no tariffs; the company expects $80 million to $120 million for those alone. A new definitive cost estimate is announced for the second half of 2026. Until then the decisive number of the project is open.
Of $1,207.6 million of cash, $449.1 million is restricted and sits in project-company accounts managed by a collateral agent; the loan agreement bars that company from paying dividends or lending to the parent. A further $120 million must go into reserve accounts by October 2026. For a project financing this is normal — but the total should not be read as a freely available cushion.
Lithium Americas is developing the largest known lithium deposit in the world at Thacker Pass in Nevada — funded by a $2.23 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, by General Motors with $430.0 million of cash, and by its own shareholders, whose stake keeps shrinking: 161.8 million shares on December 31, 2023 became 361.8 million on June 24, 2026. There is no revenue before the 2028 production ramp-up, $5.0 million of the $4.6 million quarterly profit belonged to the co-owner and the rest came from a valuation effect of the company's own share-price decline, and the $2.93 billion cost estimate contains neither tariffs nor the consequences of the Middle East conflict. Anyone investing here is funding a construction site with an open final bill. Not investment advice.
- Lithium Americas reached our research list through the laggard review of our stock universe: a company with more than three billion dollars of total assets and no revenue line at all. Classic earnings metrics (price-to-earnings, price-to-sales, Altman Z-score) cannot be calculated here or carry no meaning; the Piotroski score of 1 out of 9 (data as of August 2, 2026) is structural, because seven of the nine points test profit, margin or asset turnover.
- Risk of confusion: this Lithium Americas Corp. (CIK 0001966983) was created on January 23, 2023 as "1397468 B.C. Ltd." and took over only the North American business in the separation of October 3, 2023. The Argentine assets sit with the sister company, today named Lithium Argentina AG (formerly Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp., symbol LAAC). Despite Canadian incorporation the company reports under U.S. GAAP and files 10-K/10-Q rather than 40-F or 20-F.
- On market capitalization: the article states only an order of magnitude built from dates that belong together — 347.4 million shares times $3.95, both as of March 31, 2026, so a good $1.3 billion. The market capitalization in the fundamental data is internally consistent: it uses the 351,062,478 shares from the cover page of the quarterly report (as of May 13, 2026). It differs from a cross-check against the last share price documented in an SEC filing only because that anchor dates from March 18, 2026 and is months old. Analyses are evergreen; daily prices are not a reason to buy.
- Currency of the data: the most recent periodic report is the quarterly report 10-Q for March 31, 2026 (filed May 14, 2026). Every filing from that day onward was reviewed — the earnings release 8-K of May 14, 2026, a Schedule 13G/A of May 15, 2026, an 8-K and an SD of June 23, 2026, the shelf registration S-3ASR of June 26, 2026, and insider filings (Form 4) of June 17, June 22, June 29 and July 8, 2026. No report for the second quarter of 2026 was available as of August 2, 2026.
About the Company
Lithium Americas Corp., a resource and materials company, focuses on developing, building, and operating of lithium deposits and chemical processing facilities in the United States and Canada. The company's flagship asset is the Thacker Pass project located in the McDermitt Caldera in Humboldt County, northern Nevada, as well as invests in exploration properties in the United States and Canada. Lithium Americas Corp. was incorporated in 2023 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
| IPO Year | 2023 |
|---|
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: August 2, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.