Contrasting Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) & Air Canada (OTCMKTS:ACDVF)

Air Canada (OTCMKTS:ACDVF) and Surf Air Mobility (NYSE:SRFM) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Air Canada and Surf Air Mobility”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Canada	$16.24 billion	0.25	$1.26 billion	($0.56)	-24.98
Surf Air Mobility	$119.43 million	1.12	-$74.91 million	($2.48)	-0.86

Air Canada has higher revenue and earnings than Surf Air Mobility. Air Canada 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

17.7% of Surf Air Mobility shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Surf Air Mobility shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Air Canada has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Surf Air Mobility has a beta of 3.03, meaning that its stock price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Canada	-1.30%	18.22%	1.21%
Surf Air Mobility	-66.95%	N/A	-58.16%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Air Canada and Surf Air Mobility, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Canada	1	4	2	0	2.14
Surf Air Mobility	1	1	2	0	2.25

Surf Air Mobility has a consensus price target of $6.50, suggesting a potential upside of 203.31%. Given Surf Air Mobility’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Surf Air Mobility is more favorable than Air Canada.

Summary

Surf Air Mobility beats Air Canada on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Air Canada

Air Canada provides domestic, U.S. transborder, and international airline services. The company provides scheduled passenger services under the Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada Rouge brand names in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. transborder market, and in the international market to and from Canada, as well as through capacity purchase agreements on other regional carriers. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 203 aircraft under the Air Canada brand name comprising 115 Airbus narrow-body aircraft, and 88 Airbus wide-body aircraft; 118 aircraft under the Air Canada Express brand name, including 25 Embraer 175, 15 Mitsubishi CRJ-200, 35 Mitsubishi CRJ-900, and 43 De Havilland Dash 8-400aircraft; and 40 aircraft under the Air Canada Rouge brand name consisting of 17 Airbus A321 aircraft, 5 Airbus A320 aircraft, and 18 Airbus A319 aircraft. The company provides air cargo services in approximately 50 countries, including Toronto, Halifax, St. John's, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Quito, Lima, San Juan, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Bogotá, Madrid, Frankfurt, Basel, and Liege. In addition, it develops, operates, markets, and distributes vacation travel packages in the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States, Europe, Central and South America, South Pacific, Australia, and Asia; offers cruise packages in North America, Europe, and the Caribbean; and provides travel loyalty programs. Air Canada was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

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.