Critical Analysis: ARQ (ARQ) vs. The Competition

ARQ (NASDAQ:ARQ) is one of 19 publicly-traded companies in the “Miscellaneous chemical products” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare ARQ to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares ARQ and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ARQ	-12.35%	-8.35%	-6.16%
ARQ Competitors	-14.40%	-42.23%	-22.96%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares ARQ and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
ARQ	$99.18 million	-$12.25 million	-14.38
ARQ Competitors	$1.05 billion	$41.01 million	11.92

ARQ’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than ARQ. ARQ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

ARQ has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ARQ’s peers have a beta of 2.29, suggesting that their average share price is 129% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

18.5% of ARQ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.8% of shares of all “Miscellaneous chemical products” companies are held by institutional investors. 22.2% of ARQ shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.6% of shares of all “Miscellaneous chemical products” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for ARQ and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ARQ	0	0	0	0	N/A
ARQ Competitors	42	369	338	9	2.41

As a group, “Miscellaneous chemical products” companies have a potential upside of 23.96%. Given ARQ’s peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ARQ has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

ARQ peers beat ARQ on 6 of the 10 factors compared.

ARQ Company Profile

Arq, Inc. produces activated carbon products in North America. The company's products include granular activated carbon, powdered and granular activated carbon, and colloidal carbon products; Arq Powder Wetcake, a fine and low-ash coal waste-derived particle; and additives for air emissions control. Its products are used in various applications, including water treatment, ground water remediation, soil sediments, air emissions, and asphalt additives. The company was formerly known as Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Arq, Inc. in February 2024. Arq, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.