Contrasting Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM)

Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) are both aerospace companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Archer Aviation and Howmet Aerospace, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Archer Aviation	0	1	7	0	2.88
Howmet Aerospace	0	4	13	0	2.76

Archer Aviation currently has a consensus target price of $13.13, indicating a potential upside of 29.50%. Howmet Aerospace has a consensus target price of $142.13, indicating a potential downside of 21.30%. Given Archer Aviation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Archer Aviation is more favorable than Howmet Aerospace.

Profitability

This table compares Archer Aviation and Howmet Aerospace’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Archer Aviation	N/A	-79.78%	-61.08%
Howmet Aerospace	16.64%	27.25%	11.48%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.3% of Archer Aviation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.5% of Howmet Aerospace shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of Archer Aviation shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Howmet Aerospace shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Archer Aviation has a beta of 3.1, suggesting that its stock price is 210% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howmet Aerospace has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Archer Aviation and Howmet Aerospace”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Archer Aviation	N/A	N/A	-$536.80 million	($1.31)	-7.74
Howmet Aerospace	$7.55 billion	9.66	$1.16 billion	$3.07	58.82

Howmet Aerospace has higher revenue and earnings than Archer Aviation. Archer Aviation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Howmet Aerospace, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Howmet Aerospace beats Archer Aviation on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Archer Aviation

Archer Aviation Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in designs, develops, and operates electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in urban air mobility. The company was formerly known as Atlas Crest Investment Corp. and changed its name to Archer Aviation Inc. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc. provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels. The Engine Products segment offers airfoils and seamless rolled rings primarily for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines; and rotating and structural parts. The Fastening Systems segment produces aerospace fastening systems, as well as commercial transportation, industrial, and other fasteners; and latches, bearings, fluid fittings, and installation tools. The Engineered Structures segment provides titanium ingots and mill products, aluminum and nickel forgings, and machined components and assemblies for aerospace and defense applications; and titanium forgings, extrusions, and forming and machining services for airframe, wing, aero-engine, and landing gear components. The Forged Wheels segment offers forged aluminum wheels and related products for heavy-duty trucks and commercial transportation markets. The company was formerly known as Arconic Inc. Howmet Aerospace Inc. was founded in 1888 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.