Critical Comparison: LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) & Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP)

LATAM Airlines Group (NYSE:LTM) and Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility & Risk

LATAM Airlines Group has a beta of 3.64, suggesting that its share price is 264% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheels Up Experience has a beta of 2.19, suggesting that its share price is 119% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares LATAM Airlines Group and Wheels Up Experience”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LATAM Airlines Group	$14.49 billion	1.00	$1.46 billion	$5.44	9.24
Wheels Up Experience	$736.49 million	0.19	-$294.22 million	($8.46)	-0.45

LATAM Airlines Group has higher revenue and earnings than Wheels Up Experience. Wheels Up Experience is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LATAM Airlines Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for LATAM Airlines Group and Wheels Up Experience, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LATAM Airlines Group	0	2	6	0	2.75
Wheels Up Experience	1	0	0	0	1.00

LATAM Airlines Group presently has a consensus target price of $66.27, suggesting a potential upside of 31.77%. Given LATAM Airlines Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe LATAM Airlines Group is more favorable than Wheels Up Experience.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.2% of Wheels Up Experience shares are held by institutional investors. 7.8% of LATAM Airlines Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Wheels Up Experience shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares LATAM Airlines Group and Wheels Up Experience’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LATAM Airlines Group	9.69%	101.21%	8.80%
Wheels Up Experience	-42.04%	N/A	-30.08%

Summary

LATAM Airlines Group beats Wheels Up Experience on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LATAM Airlines Group

LATAM Airlines Group S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides passenger and cargo air transportation services in Peru, Argentina, the United States, Europe, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, the Asia Pacific, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in two segments, Air Transportation; and Multiplus Coalition and Loyalty Program. It provides passenger transport services to approximately 140 destinations in 25 countries with a fleet of 322 aircrafts, well as operates loyalty programs. The company was formerly known as LAN Airlines S.A. and changed its name to LATAM Airlines Group S.A. in June 2012. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. was founded in 1929 and is based in Santiago, Chile.

About Wheels Up Experience

Wheels Up Experience Inc. provides private aviation services in the United States and internationally. The company offers Wheels Up Membership program that consists of two primary membership categories, such as Individual membership for individual and business fliers; and UP for Business membership consists of small and medium enterprise, and custom enterprise solutions for business fliers that tend to spend at higher levels. Its Wheels Up Charter provides charter flight services for passenger groups, sports teams, global corporate events, and tour operations, as well as global passenger, cargo, emergency, and government services. In addition, the company offers wholesale charter services; group charter and cargo flights; maintenance, repair, and operations services; fixed-base operator services; safety and security services; and government, defense, emergency, and medical transport missions. It serves individuals, small and medium enterprises, and corporate customers. As of December 31, 2024, the company operated a fleet of 154 owned and leased aircraft. Wheels Up Experience Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Chamblee, Georgia.