Will Lithium Americas' Supply Chain Keep Thacker Pass on Track?

Lithium Americas Corp. LAC is steadily advancing construction activities at its Thacker Pass project, backed by a series of long-term purchase agreements that secure critical equipment, infrastructure and services. These agreements cover everything from long-lead processing equipment to essential development and mining services and reflect the company’s push to keep the project on track.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, LAC has already committed approximately $430 million toward these efforts. A significant wave of progress is expected in early 2026, when major long-lead equipment, along with a substantial portion of construction materials, is scheduled to arrive either directly at the Thacker Pass site or at the fabrication yard in Winnemucca. 

LAC is sourcing these materials from Canada, China, India, the UAE, Turkey and several European Union countries. While this diversified supply chain helps ensure timely delivery, it also exposes the company to possible tariffs. Recognizing this risk, Lithium Americas has been proactively working to limit any potential impact on the project’s construction timeline and budget. The company has limited its exposure to tariffs as roughly 75% of its total capital project cost is tied to labor, contractors and services, factors that are not directly affected by tariffs.

LAC’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Lithium Americas’ shares have gained 64% compared with the Zacks Mining - Miscellaneous industry’s growth of 19.4% year to date. LAC’s peers, BHP Group Limited BHP and TMC the metals company Inc. TMC, have gained 8.4% and 376.8%, respectively, in the same period.
 

From a valuation standpoint, Lithium Americas is trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of negative 13.24X against the industry’s average of 15.56X. LAC is trading above the TMC’s P/E ratio and below that of BHP. Notably, BHP and TMC are trading at 13.41X and negative 17.85X, respectively.

 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAC’s 2025 and 2026 loss per share has widened 37 cents and 13 cents, respectively, in the past 30 days.

 
LAC carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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