Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) vs. Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) Head-To-Head Analysis

Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) and Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Surf Air Mobility	$106.56 million	0.83	-$110.56 million	($3.48)	-0.33
Mesa Air Group	$1.68 billion	0.50	$76.20 million	($1.77)	-10.10

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Surf Air Mobility	1	1	1	0	2.00
Mesa Air Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Surf Air Mobility currently has a consensus price target of $3.13, suggesting a potential upside of 172.45%. Given Surf Air Mobility’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Surf Air Mobility is more favorable than Mesa Air Group.

Risk & Volatility

Surf Air Mobility has a beta of 3.01, meaning that its stock price is 201% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Air Group has a beta of 1.59, meaning that its stock price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Surf Air Mobility and Mesa Air Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Surf Air Mobility	-103.75%	N/A	-70.52%
Mesa Air Group	-6.32%	4.28%	1.43%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

17.7% of Surf Air Mobility shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.3% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Surf Air Mobility shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Surf Air Mobility beats Mesa Air Group on 8 of the 14 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 Mesa Air Group

Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc. that provides regional air carrier scheduled passenger services. The company offers scheduled flight and cargo services. As of September 30, 2023, it operated a fleet of 80 aircraft with approximately 296 daily departures to 86 cities in the United States and Mexico. Mesa Air Group, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.