Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) & Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP) Financial Comparison

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

Profitability

This table compares Virgin Galactic and Wheels Up Experience’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virgin Galactic	-17,828.03%	-98.94%	-32.03%
Wheels Up Experience	-42.68%	N/A	-25.12%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

46.6% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.2% of Wheels Up Experience shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Wheels Up Experience 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Virgin Galactic and Wheels Up Experience, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virgin Galactic	1	2	1	0	2.00
Wheels Up Experience	0	0	0	0	0.00

Virgin Galactic presently has a consensus target price of $4.8125, suggesting a potential upside of 54.00%. Given Virgin Galactic’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Virgin Galactic is more favorable than Wheels Up Experience.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Virgin Galactic and Wheels Up Experience”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Virgin Galactic	$7.04 million	25.56	-$346.74 million	($9.04)	-0.35
Wheels Up Experience	$792.10 million	1.90	-$339.64 million	($0.47)	-4.58

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

Volatility and Risk

Virgin Galactic has a beta of 2.01, indicating that its share price is 101% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheels Up Experience has a beta of 2.33, indicating that its share price is 133% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wheels Up Experience beats Virgin Galactic on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Wheels Up Experience

Wheels Up Experience Inc. provides private aviation services in the United States and internationally. The company offers Wheels Up Membership program that consists of two primary membership categories, such as Individual membership for individual and business fliers; and UP for Business membership consists of small and medium enterprise, and custom enterprise solutions for business fliers that tend to spend at higher levels. Its Wheels Up Charter provides charter flight services for passenger groups, sports teams, global corporate events, and tour operations, as well as global passenger, cargo, emergency, and government services. In addition, the company offers wholesale charter services; group charter and cargo flights; maintenance, repair, and operations services; fixed-base operator services; safety and security services; and government, defense, emergency, and medical transport missions. It serves individuals, small and medium enterprises, and corporate customers. As of December 31, 2024, the company operated a fleet of 154 owned and leased aircraft. Wheels Up Experience Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Chamblee, Georgia.