Critical Analysis: Austin Gold (NYSE:AUST) versus RCF Acquisition (NYSE:RCFA)

RCF Acquisition (NYSE:RCFA) and Austin Gold (NYSE:AUST) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares RCF Acquisition and Austin Gold”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RCF Acquisition	N/A	N/A	$5.15 million	N/A	N/A
Austin Gold	N/A	N/A	-$4.00 million	($0.32)	-3.56

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for RCF Acquisition and Austin Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RCF Acquisition	0	0	0	0	N/A
Austin Gold	0	0	0	0	N/A

Profitability

This table compares RCF Acquisition and Austin Gold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RCF Acquisition	N/A	-79.90%	6.86%
Austin Gold	N/A	-29.73%	-28.74%

Volatility and Risk

RCF Acquisition has a beta of -0.02, indicating that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Austin Gold has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.6% of RCF Acquisition shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.1% of Austin Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.9% of RCF Acquisition shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 70.7% of Austin Gold shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Austin Gold beats RCF Acquisition on 4 of the 6 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RCF Acquisition

RCF Acquisition Corp. does not have significant operations. It focuses to target assets or businesses of scale across the critical minerals value chain that are poised to benefit over the long-term from the substantial market opportunity created by the global energy transition. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

About Austin Gold

Austin Gold Corp., a gold exploration company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral property interests in Nevada. The company holds interest in Kelly Creek Project located in the Kelly Creek Basin, in southeastern Humboldt County, Nevada; Fourmile Basin Project that comprises various unpatented lode mining claims covering approximately 6410 acres located in Nye County; the Lone Mountain Project consisting of various unpatented lode mining and patented mining claims located near Lone Mountain in Elko County. It also holds interest in the Miller Project consisting various unpatented lode mining claims located in Elko County in Nevada. Austin Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.