Contrasting Cathay Pacific Airways (OTCMKTS:CPCAY) and Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM)

Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) and Cathay Pacific Airways (OTCMKTS:CPCAY) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Surf Air Mobility and Cathay Pacific Airways, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surf Air Mobility	1	1	2	0	2.25
Cathay Pacific Airways	1	1	0	0	1.50

Surf Air Mobility presently has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 195.45%. Given Surf Air Mobility’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Surf Air Mobility is more favorable than Cathay Pacific Airways.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Cathay Pacific Airways”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surf Air Mobility	$119.43 million	1.15	-$74.91 million	($2.48)	-0.89
Cathay Pacific Airways	$13.38 billion	0.82	$1.23 billion	N/A	N/A

Cathay Pacific Airways has higher revenue and earnings than Surf Air Mobility.

Volatility & Risk

Surf Air Mobility has a beta of 3.03, meaning that its share price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cathay Pacific Airways has a beta of 0.03, meaning that its share price is 97% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Profitability

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Cathay Pacific Airways’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surf Air Mobility	-66.95%	N/A	-58.16%
Cathay Pacific Airways	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Surf Air Mobility beats Cathay Pacific Airways on 7 of the 11 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 Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, together with its subsidiaries, offers international passenger and air cargo transportation services. The company conducts airline operations principally to and from Hong Kong. It also engages in the property investment and travel reward program; operates as a travel tour operator; and provision of financial, aircraft acquisition facilitation, airline catering, information processing, aircraft ramp handling, laundry and dry cleaning, ground handling, and cargo terminal services. The company operates in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, Southwest Pacific, North Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. As of December 31, 2023, it operates 230 aircraft. Cathay Pacific Airways Limited was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Lantau Island, Hong Kong.