Contrasting Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM)

Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.0% of Spire Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.5% of Howmet Aerospace shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.0% of Spire Global shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Howmet Aerospace shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Spire Global and Howmet Aerospace, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spire Global	0	2	3	0	2.60
Howmet Aerospace	0	4	18	0	2.82

Spire Global currently has a consensus target price of $16.70, indicating a potential downside of 11.03%. Howmet Aerospace has a consensus target price of $287.53, indicating a potential upside of 3.33%. Given Howmet Aerospace’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Howmet Aerospace is more favorable than Spire Global.

Volatility and Risk

Spire Global has a beta of 2.48, suggesting that its stock price is 148% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howmet Aerospace has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Spire Global and Howmet Aerospace”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spire Global	$71.55 million	10.15	$51.31 million	$1.57	11.96
Howmet Aerospace	$8.25 billion	13.49	$1.51 billion	$4.31	64.56

Howmet Aerospace has higher revenue and earnings than Spire Global. Spire Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Howmet Aerospace, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Spire Global and Howmet Aerospace’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spire Global	77.12%	-34.05%	-19.32%
Howmet Aerospace	20.23%	29.27%	13.20%

Summary

Howmet Aerospace beats Spire Global on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spire Global

Spire Global, Inc. provides subscription-based data, insights, predictive analytics, and related project-based services worldwide. The company offers satellite-based aircraft tracking data to power applications, drive decision making, and improve cost efficiencies; data, insights, and predictive analytics for highly accurate ship monitoring, real-time and near real-time vessel updates, port operations, ship safety and route optimization; and space-based data, AI-powered insights, and predictive weather analytics for accurate weather forecasting. It serves maritime, weather, aviation, and space services industries. The company was formerly known as Nanosatisfi, Inc. and changed its name to Spire Global, Inc. in July 2014. Spire Global, Inc. is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc. provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels. The Engine Products segment offers airfoils and seamless rolled rings primarily for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines; and rotating and structural parts. The Fastening Systems segment produces aerospace fastening systems, as well as commercial transportation, industrial, and other fasteners; and latches, bearings, fluid fittings, and installation tools. The Engineered Structures segment provides titanium ingots and mill products, aluminum and nickel forgings, and machined components and assemblies for aerospace and defense applications; and titanium forgings, extrusions, and forming and machining services for airframe, wing, aero-engine, and landing gear components. The Forged Wheels segment offers forged aluminum wheels and related products for heavy-duty trucks and commercial transportation markets. The company was formerly known as Arconic Inc. Howmet Aerospace Inc. was founded in 1888 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.