Critical Review: Athena Gold (OTCMKTS:AHNR) & Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM)

Athena Gold (OTCMKTS:AHNR) and Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Athena Gold and Fortuna Silver Mines”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Athena Gold	N/A	N/A	$610,000.00	N/A	N/A
Fortuna Silver Mines	$1.06 billion	1.74	-$50.84 million	$0.41	14.67

Athena Gold has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fortuna Silver Mines.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Athena Gold and Fortuna Silver Mines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Athena Gold	0	0	0	0	0.00
Fortuna Silver Mines	2	2	0	0	1.50

Fortuna Silver Mines has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.25%. Given Fortuna Silver Mines’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Fortuna Silver Mines is more favorable than Athena Gold.

Profitability

This table compares Athena Gold and Fortuna Silver Mines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Athena Gold	N/A	-6.37%	-5.73%
Fortuna Silver Mines	2.45%	10.08%	6.87%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.9% of Athena Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.8% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of Athena Gold shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Fortuna Silver Mines shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Athena Gold has a beta of -0.07, suggesting that its stock price is 107% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fortuna Silver Mines has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fortuna Silver Mines beats Athena Gold on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Athena Gold

Athena Gold Corporation, an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral resources in the United States. It explores for gold, molybdenum, and copper deposits. The company's flagship property is the Excelsior Springs project comprising 191 unpatented claims and 2 patented mining claims located in Walker Lane, Nevada. It also owns 100% interest in the Crow Springs project, which consists of eleven unpatented mining claims located in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Athena Gold Corporation was formerly known as Athena Silver Corporation and changed its name to Athena Gold Corporation in January 2021. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Vacaville, California.

About Fortuna Silver Mines

Fortuna Mining Corp. engages in the precious and base metal mining in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Peru, and Côte d’Ivoire. It operates through Mansfield, Sanu, Sango, Cuzcatlan, Bateas, and Corporate segments. The company primarily explores for silver, lead, zinc, and gold. Its flagship project is the Séguéla gold mine, which consists of approximately 62,000 hectares and is located in the Worodougou Region of the Woroba District, Côte d’Ivoire. The company was formerly known as Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. and changed its name to Fortuna Mining Corp. in June 2024. Fortuna Mining Corp. was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.