Contrasting JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) and Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY)

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) and Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Risk & Volatility

JetBlue Airways has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air China has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.7% of JetBlue Airways shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of JetBlue Airways shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares JetBlue Airways and Air China”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JetBlue Airways	$9.28 billion	0.17	-$795.00 million	($0.82)	-5.35
Air China	$23.19 billion	0.54	-$32.35 million	($0.07)	-214.29

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for JetBlue Airways and Air China, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JetBlue Airways	4	8	0	0	1.67
Air China	0	0	0	0	0.00

JetBlue Airways presently has a consensus price target of $5.16, suggesting a potential upside of 17.52%. Given JetBlue Airways’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe JetBlue Airways is more favorable than Air China.

Profitability

This table compares JetBlue Airways and Air China’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JetBlue Airways	-3.12%	-11.93%	-1.93%
Air China	-0.33%	-1.41%	-0.16%

Summary

Air China beats JetBlue Airways on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways Corporation provides air transportation services. The company operates a fleet of Airbus A321, Airbus A220, Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320 Restyled, Airbus A320, Airbus A321 with Mint, Airbus A321neo with Mint, Airbus A321neoLR with Mint, and Embraer E190 aircraft. It also serves 100 destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, Canada, and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Long Island City, New York.

About Air China

Air China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides air passenger, air cargo, and airline-related services in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China, and internationally. The company operates in Airline Operations and Other Operations segments. It provides aircraft engineering and airport ground handling services. The company is also involved in the import and export trading activities; and provision of cabin, airline catering, air ticketing, human resources, aircraft overhaul and maintenance, and financial services. Air China Limited was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.