Critical Analysis: Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) versus Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Joby Aviation and Bristow Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Joby Aviation	3	5	1	0	1.78
Bristow Group	0	1	3	0	2.75

Joby Aviation currently has a consensus price target of $13.21, suggesting a potential upside of 35.68%. Bristow Group has a consensus price target of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.99%. Given Joby Aviation’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Joby Aviation is more favorable than Bristow Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

52.8% of Joby Aviation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.3% of Bristow Group shares are held by institutional investors. 32.4% of Joby Aviation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of Bristow Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Joby Aviation and Bristow Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Joby Aviation	$22.64 million	392.15	-$608.03 million	($1.34)	-7.27
Bristow Group	$1.42 billion	0.96	$94.80 million	$4.78	9.81

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

Volatility and Risk

Joby Aviation has a beta of 2.57, indicating that its share price is 157% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bristow Group has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Joby Aviation	N/A	-77.03%	-55.91%
Bristow Group	9.71%	14.83%	6.43%

Summary

Bristow Group beats Joby Aviation on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Bristow Group

Bristow Group Inc. provides vertical flight solutions. The company primarily offers aviation services to integrated, national, and independent offshore energy companies and government agencies. It also provides personnel transportation, search and rescue, medevac, ad hoc helicopter, fixed wing transportation, unmanned systems, and ad-hoc helicopter services, as well as logistical and maintenance support, training services, and flight and maintenance crews. The company has a fleet of aircrafts. It has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, India, Ireland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, and United States. Bristow Group Inc. is based in Houston, Texas.