Comstock Inc. LODE completed the sale of one of its three major non-mining assets, the Daney Ranch property, based in Dayton, NV, for a price of $2.7 million.

LODE will be able to advance its monetization program by closing the Daney Ranch property deal. Comstock is executing the sale of all of the non-mining assets. Over the next three to four months, the company intends to close the remaining two assets.

Comstock entered into a lease-purchase agreement in 2020 with the proprietor of an exploration and mine development drilling services company. Per the agreement, the company took the lease of the properties for $9,000 per month for up to 24 months. As the deal closed within two years, around $200,000 of those lease payments were creditable to the purchase price, resulting in a net price of $2.5 million at the closing of the deal. The deal funds this week, with an additional $1.5 million cash and a $1-million secured interest-bearing note, are required to be paid off upon the sale of specific assets owned by the buyer.

Recently, Comstock announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2022. LODE reported a loss per share of 20 cents in the quarter, comparing unfavorably with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 6 cents. LODE had reported a loss per share of 15 cents in the year-ago quarter. Results were primarily affected by increases in research and development expenditures and changes in fair values of derivatives.

Revenues of $0.05 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1 million. The figure also compared unfavorably with the year-ago revenues of $0.06 million.

As of Jun 30, 2022, Comstock had $4.34 million worth cash and equivalents. As of the end of second-quarter 2022 end, total assets were around $118 million compared with $115 million as of Mar 31, 2022. LODE initiated non-strategic asset monetization efforts, expected to generate $20 million from asset sales over the next two quarters.

Comstock recently filed for a new patent covering breakthrough pathways to produce renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel gasoline and marine fuel from woody biomass. It is expected to have better yield, efficiency and cost than other conventional methods. This move will significantly expand LODE’s leading cellulosic technology portfolio.

LODE also recently commissioned its proprietary lithium-ion battery (“LIB”) pilot crushing, separation and conditioning system. Comstock expects production of high-purity black mass to start in its battery metal recycling facility by the second quarter of 2023. Production of battery-grade lithium carbonate is expected to commence in its battery metal recycling plant by the third quarter of next year.

Price Performance

Shares of Comstock Mining have plunged 77.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 6.8%.

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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Comstock Mining currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Daqo New Energy Corp. DQ, Albemarle Corporation ALB and Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ASH.

Daqo New Energy, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has an expected earnings growth rate of 177.5% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DQ's earnings for the current fiscal has been revised 20.8% upward in the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Daqo New Energy’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being 10.8%. DQ has gained around 40% over a year.

Albemarle has a projected earnings growth rate of 405.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALB’s current-year earnings has been revised 61.3% upward in the past 60 days.

Albemarle’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 24.2%. ALB has gained roughly 31% in a year. The company has a Zacks Rank #1.

Ashland, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has a projected earnings growth rate of 50.9% for fiscal 2022. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASH’s fiscal 2022 earnings has been revised 10.5% upward in the past 60 days.

ASH’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 1.82%, on average. ASH shares are up around 20.9% in a year.

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