LAC

Lithium Americas is a single-asset, development-stage miner with no revenue in any of the last three fiscal years, so it cannot be valued on earnings, P/E or P/S — and it should not be mistaken for an operating business. Losses are widening sharply (net income -$5.09M FY2023 → -$42.6M FY2024 → -$86.3M FY2025), operating cash flow is negative at -$61.2M, and shares outstanding jumped 58.8% to 347M, so existing holders are being diluted while the company spends to build. ROE of -8.1% is a mechanical artifact of burning equity pre-production, not a return signal. This is an option on Thacker Pass coming online, priced at $3.77.

What separates LAC from a typical cash-strapped junior is its financing, and the filing is explicit about it. Total assets grew 146.8% to $2.58B on $765M of capex (+330.5%) as construction advances. The build is funded by a near-uniquely cheap DOE Loan — ~23-year tenor maturing July 2048, fixed at U.S. Treasury rates with no credit spread — which advanced $435M on Oct 20, 2025 and a further $432M on Feb 24, 2026. GM, the 38% JV partner, contributed $330M at formation, $100M at FID (April 2025) and released a $195M letter of credit. Working capital is a healthy $734.8M (current assets $912M vs. current liabilities $177M) and cash is $568M. Liabilities/equity of 0.94x looks elevated only because the DOE draw is debt against an asset not yet producing; this is a balance sheet being deliberately levered for construction, not one under stress. The higher-cost layer is the Orion Notes at 9.875%.