Critical Survey: SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) and Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY)

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) and Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

SkyWest has a beta of 1.66, suggesting that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Joby Aviation has a beta of 2.56, suggesting that its share price is 156% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SkyWest and Joby Aviation”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SkyWest	$3.53 billion	1.15	$322.96 million	$10.48	9.64
Joby Aviation	$140,000.00	91,594.81	-$608.03 million	($1.34)	-10.50

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for SkyWest and Joby Aviation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SkyWest	0	2	5	1	2.88
Joby Aviation	3	5	1	0	1.78

SkyWest currently has a consensus price target of $127.17, suggesting a potential upside of 25.84%. Joby Aviation has a consensus price target of $13.43, suggesting a potential downside of 4.52%. Given SkyWest’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe SkyWest is more favorable than Joby Aviation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

81.3% of SkyWest shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.9% of Joby Aviation shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of SkyWest shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.5% of Joby Aviation 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.

Profitability

This table compares SkyWest and Joby Aviation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SkyWest	10.92%	17.14%	6.07%
Joby Aviation	N/A	-77.03%	-55.91%

Summary

SkyWest beats Joby Aviation on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc. is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. ExpressJet Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Based in St. George, Utah, SkyWest employs nearly 17,000 employees.

About Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation, Inc., a vertically integrated air mobility company, engages in building an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft optimized to deliver air transportation as a service. The company intends to build an aerial ridesharing service, as well as developing an application-based platform that will enable consumers to book rides. Joby Aviation, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.