Contrasting Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:SPR) and AerSale (NASDAQ:ASLE)

Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:SPR) and AerSale (NASDAQ:ASLE) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Spirit Aerosystems and AerSale’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Spirit Aerosystems	-37.46%	N/A	-26.28%
AerSale	1.73%	2.10%	1.40%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.6% of Spirit Aerosystems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.5% of AerSale shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Spirit Aerosystems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.2% of AerSale shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Spirit Aerosystems and AerSale”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Spirit Aerosystems	$6.39 billion	0.66	-$2.14 billion	($22.11)	-1.62
AerSale	$345.07 million	0.85	$5.85 million	$0.13	47.62

AerSale has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Spirit Aerosystems. Spirit Aerosystems is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AerSale, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Spirit Aerosystems and AerSale, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Spirit Aerosystems	1	3	0	1	2.20
AerSale	1	4	0	0	1.80

Spirit Aerosystems currently has a consensus target price of $38.63, indicating a potential upside of 7.67%. AerSale has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.09%. Given AerSale’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AerSale is more favorable than Spirit Aerosystems.

Risk and Volatility

Spirit Aerosystems has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AerSale has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AerSale beats Spirit Aerosystems on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Spirit Aerosystems

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. engages in the design, engineering, manufacture, and marketing of commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, floor beams, nacelles, struts/pylons, horizontal and vertical stabilizers, flaps and slats flight control surfaces, wing structures, and wing systems. This segment primarily serves commercial and business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures; provision of missiles and hypersonics solutions, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems; forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures; and classified programs. This segment primarily serves U.S. Government defense programs. The Aftermarket segment provides maintenance, repair, and overhaul services; fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures spare parts; repair services for radome, flight control surfaces, and nacelles; rotable assets trading and leasing; and engineering services. This segment primarily serves both commercial and defense and space programs. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

About AerSale

AerSale Corporation provides aftermarket commercial aircraft, engines, and its parts to passenger and cargo airlines, leasing companies, original equipment manufacturers, and government and defense contractors, as well as maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) service providers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Management Solutions and Technical Operations (TechOps). The Asset Management Solutions segment engages in the sale and lease of aircraft, engines, and airframes, as well as disassembly of these assets for component parts. The TechOps segment provides internal and third-party aviation services, including internally developed engineered solutions, heavy aircraft maintenance and modification, and component MRO, as well as end-of-life disassembly services. This segment provides aircraft modifications, cargo and tanker conversions of aircraft, and aircraft storage; and MRO services for landing gear, thrust reversers, hydraulic systems, and other aircraft components. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.