NVMI vs UAMY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: NVMI is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. NVMI and UAMY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined NVMI and UAMY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ and Tel Aviv: NVMI), headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, builds process-control metrology for semiconductor manufacturing. Metrology is measurement rather than inspection: instead of hunting for defects, Nova's systems characterize the dimensions, profiles, thin-film thickness, and material composition of structures on a wafer while it is still moving through the line. The portfolio splits into a Dimensional Metrology Division built on optical techniques (integrated and standalone optical critical dimension, or OCD, scatterometry) and a Materials Metrology Division built on x-ray methods, plus chemical metrology acquired with ancosys in 2022 and a modeling and analytics software layer that is arguably the real moat. A meaningful share of Nova's tools are integrated, meaning they are bolted directly onto another vendor's deposition or etch equipment, which makes Nova both a supplier to fabs and a partner to process-equipment makers. Customers are the logic foundries, memory makers, and packaging houses in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, and the United States, and manufacturing sits in Israel, Germany, and the United States, with a new Asian facility targeted to be operational by the end of 2026.

Full NVMI guide

United States Antimony Corporation (NYSE: UAMY, also listed on NYSE Texas) has been processing antimony in Montana since 1970 and moved from NYSE American to the New York Stock Exchange in March 2026. It reports two segments. The antimony segment covers the Thompson Falls smelter in Sanders County, Montana, which turns ore into antimony oxide, metal ingots, trisulfide and a small stream of gold and silver, plus the Madero smelter in Mexico run through its USAMSA subsidiary. The zeolite segment is Bear River Zeolite in Preston, Idaho, which surface mines and sells zeolite for water filtration, soil amendment and animal feed. Around those two segments sits a widening set of early-stage assets: the restarted Stibnite Hill mine and the new Radersburg flotation mill in Montana, claims at Nolan Creek and in the Fairbanks District of Alaska, the Fostung tungsten project in Ontario, and a hydrometallurgical joint venture with Americas Gold and Silver in Idaho. The company employed ~100 full-time staff at the end of 2025.

Full UAMY guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• NVMI drivers: Gate-all-around and the rising metrology intensity of leading-edge logic; Advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory.
• UAMY drivers: The tripled Montana smelter; Government demand as a floor.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Nova sells capital equipment into an industry that has historically swung hard in both directions, so a pause in leading-edge capex at any of the handful of customers that matter would show up in orders within a quarter or two, and the current multiple leaves little room for that. For UAMY, the antimony price cycle dominates everything.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick NVMI if you believe its drivers more; UAMY if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the NVMI and UAMY guides.

NVMI. Market capitalization is roughly $12.5B on about 31.8M shares outstanding, which puts the stock near a 45x forward earnings multiple against roughly 25x for the average US semiconductor name, and above Nova's own 15-year average price-to-earnings ratio of about 37x. The premium is being paid for a record set of results, not a promise: fiscal 2025 revenue of ~$880.6M grew ~31% with GAAP net income of ~$259.2M, and both 2026 quarters so far set records with margins holding in the mid-50s. The offset is a 52-week range of roughly $233 to $616, which is the market repricing the same business by more than 2x inside a year as views on the leading-edge capex cycle shift.

UAMY. The valuation rests on capacity and contracts rather than current output. Full-year 2025 revenue of ~$39.3M was itself inflated by peak antimony pricing, and the first half of 2026 came in at ~$14.7M against ~$17.5M a year earlier. Management authorized a ~$100M share repurchase on 19 August 2026, saying the board considered the stock undervalued, four months after raising ~$49.1M of equity.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): NVMI shows revenue (ttm) ~$903M (trailing figure, before the record June quarter fully rolls in), q2 2026 revenue ~$255.0M (+16% YoY, +8% QoQ, a company record), gross margin (q2 2026) ~56.5% GAAP, ~58% non-GAAP, operating margin (q2 2026) ~30% GAAP, ~33% non-GAAP; UAMY shows revenue (ttm) ~$36.4M, q2 2026 revenue ~$7.9M, down from ~$10.5M, q2 2026 gross margin ~7%, down from ~27%, net loss (ttm) ~$16.3M.

NVMI and UAMY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined NVMI and UAMY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.