Contrasting Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) and Air Canada (OTCMKTS:ACDVF)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Canada	2.92%	22.50%	1.54%
Joby Aviation	N/A	-71.47%	-52.76%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Air Canada and Joby Aviation”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Canada	$16.01 billion	0.24	$460.91 million	$1.45	9.13
Joby Aviation	$53.43 million	153.36	-$929.84 million	($1.14)	-7.88

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

Volatility & Risk

Air Canada has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Joby Aviation has a beta of 2.59, suggesting that its share price is 159% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Air Canada and Joby Aviation, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Canada	0	7	2	0	2.22
Joby Aviation	3	4	2	0	1.89

Joby Aviation has a consensus target price of $13.81, suggesting a potential upside of 53.71%. Given Joby Aviation’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Joby Aviation is more favorable than Air Canada.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

52.8% of Joby Aviation shares are owned by institutional investors. 28.5% of Joby Aviation 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.

Summary

Air Canada beats Joby Aviation on 8 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 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.