Contrasting Japan Airlines (OTCMKTS:JAPSY) and Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY)

Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) and Japan Airlines (OTCMKTS:JAPSY) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Joby Aviation and Japan Airlines, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Joby Aviation	3	3	2	0	1.88
Japan Airlines	0	1	0	1	3.00

Joby Aviation presently has a consensus target price of $13.64, indicating a potential upside of 85.62%. Given Joby Aviation’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Joby Aviation is more favorable than Japan Airlines.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

52.8% of Joby Aviation shares are held by institutional investors. 28.5% of Joby Aviation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Joby Aviation has a beta of 2.71, meaning that its share price is 171% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Japan Airlines has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Joby Aviation and Japan Airlines’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Joby Aviation	-1,232.62%	-60.54%	-42.52%
Japan Airlines	6.84%	10.96%	4.48%

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Joby Aviation	$53.42 million	135.34	-$929.84 million	($1.15)	-6.39
Japan Airlines	$13.37 billion	0.58	$914.10 million	$1.03	8.65

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

Summary

Japan Airlines beats Joby Aviation on 9 of the 15 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 Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services in Japan, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. The company operates through Air Transportation and Other segments. It offers passenger, ground handling, cargo and mail handling, and maintenance services. The company is also involved in the aerial work and other related business; airport peripheral business; and sale of travel package tours. As of March 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 224 aircraft. The company was formerly known as Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. in April 2011. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.