Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) and Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) Head to Head Review

Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) and Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Spire Global and Virgin Galactic, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spire Global	1	1	2	0	2.25
Virgin Galactic	2	3	1	0	1.83

Spire Global presently has a consensus price target of $12.50, suggesting a potential upside of 45.50%. Virgin Galactic has a consensus price target of $4.33, suggesting a potential upside of 20.64%. Given Spire Global’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Spire Global is more favorable than Virgin Galactic.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spire Global	40.08%	-80.89%	-25.80%
Virgin Galactic	-17,615.71%	-108.00%	-32.35%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

20.0% of Spire Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.6% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.7% of Spire Global shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spire Global and Virgin Galactic”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spire Global	$110.45 million	2.57	-$102.82 million	$0.38	22.61
Virgin Galactic	$7.04 million	29.33	-$346.74 million	($7.47)	-0.48

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

Volatility and Risk

Spire Global has a beta of 2.43, suggesting that its stock price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Virgin Galactic has a beta of 1.98, suggesting that its stock price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Spire Global beats Virgin Galactic on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc., an aerospace and space travel company, focuses on the development, manufacture, and operation of spaceships and related technologies. The company engages in the design and development, manufacturing, ground and flight testing, spaceflight operation, and post-flight maintenance of spaceflight systems for private individuals, researchers, and government agencies. Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Tustin, California.