Comparing Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM)

Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP) and Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) are both aerospace companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.2% of Wheels Up Experience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.5% of Howmet Aerospace shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Wheels Up Experience shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Howmet Aerospace 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Wheels Up Experience and Howmet Aerospace, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheels Up Experience	1	0	0	0	1.00
Howmet Aerospace	0	4	13	0	2.76

Howmet Aerospace has a consensus price target of $181.92, indicating a potential downside of 10.76%. Given Howmet Aerospace’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Howmet Aerospace is more favorable than Wheels Up Experience.

Profitability

This table compares Wheels Up Experience and Howmet Aerospace’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheels Up Experience	-42.68%	N/A	-25.12%
Howmet Aerospace	18.09%	28.17%	12.26%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wheels Up Experience and Howmet Aerospace”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheels Up Experience	$792.10 million	1.27	-$339.64 million	($0.47)	-3.07
Howmet Aerospace	$7.43 billion	11.06	$1.16 billion	$3.42	59.61

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

Risk and Volatility

Wheels Up Experience has a beta of 2.32, suggesting that its share price is 132% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howmet Aerospace has a beta of 1.45, suggesting that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Howmet Aerospace beats Wheels Up Experience on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.