Critical Review: Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) versus Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR)

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) and Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) are both aerospace companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Northrop Grumman and Spire Global”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Northrop Grumman	$41.03 billion	2.13	$4.17 billion	$27.13	22.50
Spire Global	$110.45 million	3.86	-$102.82 million	($3.48)	-3.95

Northrop Grumman has higher revenue and earnings than Spire Global. Spire Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northrop Grumman, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.4% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.0% of Spire Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.7% of Spire Global shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Northrop Grumman and Spire Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northrop Grumman	0	8	9	1	2.61
Spire Global	1	1	4	0	2.50

Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus target price of $588.85, indicating a potential downside of 3.52%. Spire Global has a consensus target price of $18.20, indicating a potential upside of 32.56%. Given Spire Global’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Spire Global is more favorable than Northrop Grumman.

Profitability

This table compares Northrop Grumman and Spire Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northrop Grumman	9.74%	25.52%	7.89%
Spire Global	-98.42%	-492.01%	-37.32%

Risk and Volatility

Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.1, suggesting that its stock price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Spire Global has a beta of 2.41, suggesting that its stock price is 141% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Northrop Grumman beats Spire Global on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems. Its Defense Systems segment designs, develops, integrates, and produces tactical weapons and missile defense solutions, and provides sustainment, modernization, and training services for manned and unmanned aircraft and electronics systems. It also offers integrated, all-domain command, and control battle management systems, precision strike weapons; high speed air-breathing and hypersonic systems; high-performance gun systems, ammunition, precision munitions and advanced fuzes; aircraft and mission systems logistics support, sustainment, operations and modernization; and warfighter training services. The company’s Mission Systems segment offers command, control, communications and computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; radar, electro-optical/infrared and acoustic sensors; electronic warfare systems; advanced communications and network systems; cyber solutions; intelligence processing systems; navigation; and maritime power, propulsion, and payload launch systems. Its Space Systems segment offers satellites, spacecraft systems, subsystems, sensors, and payloads; ground systems; missile defense systems and interceptors; launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; and strategic missiles. Northrop Grumman Corporation was founded in 1939 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.

About Spire Global

Spire Global, Inc. provides subscription-based data, insights, predictive analytics, and related project-based services worldwide. The company offers satellite-based aircraft tracking data to power applications, drive decision making, and improve cost efficiencies; data, insights, and predictive analytics for highly accurate ship monitoring, real-time and near real-time vessel updates, port operations, ship safety and route optimization; and space-based data, AI-powered insights, and predictive weather analytics for accurate weather forecasting. It serves maritime, weather, aviation, and space services industries. The company was formerly known as Nanosatisfi, Inc. and changed its name to Spire Global, Inc. in July 2014. Spire Global, Inc. is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia.