Reviewing Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) and Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM)

Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) and Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surf Air Mobility	$106.56 million	0.84	-$110.56 million	($3.48)	-0.33
Mesa Air Group	$1.68 billion	0.50	$76.20 million	($1.77)	-10.15

Mesa Air Group has higher revenue and earnings than Surf Air Mobility. Mesa Air Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Surf Air Mobility, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.7% of Surf Air Mobility shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.3% of Mesa Air Group shares are held by institutional investors. 8.0% of Surf Air Mobility shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Mesa Air Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surf Air Mobility	1	1	1	0	2.00
Mesa Air Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Surf Air Mobility presently has a consensus target price of $3.13, indicating a potential upside of 168.24%. Given Surf Air Mobility’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Surf Air Mobility is more favorable than Mesa Air Group.

Profitability

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surf Air Mobility	-103.75%	N/A	-70.52%
Mesa Air Group	-6.32%	4.28%	1.43%

Volatility & Risk

Surf Air Mobility has a beta of 3.34, meaning that its share price is 234% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Air Group has a beta of 1.73, meaning that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Surf Air Mobility beats Mesa Air Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Surf Air Mobility

Surf Air Mobility Inc. operates as an electric aviation and air travel company in the United States. The company offers an air mobility platform with scheduled routes and on demand charter flights operated by third parties. Surf Air Mobility Inc. is headquartered in Hawthorne, California.

About Mesa Air Group

Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc. that provides regional air carrier scheduled passenger services. The company offers scheduled flight and cargo services. As of September 30, 2023, it operated a fleet of 80 aircraft with approximately 296 daily departures to 86 cities in the United States and Mexico. Mesa Air Group, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.