Critical Survey: Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) and Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP)

Wheels Up Experience (NYSE:UP) and Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:RJET) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Wheels Up Experience and Mesa Air Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheels Up Experience	1	0	0	0	1.00
Mesa Air Group	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.2% of Wheels Up Experience shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.3% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Wheels Up Experience shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Wheels Up Experience has a beta of 2.09, suggesting that its share price is 109% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mesa Air Group has a beta of 1.64, suggesting that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheels Up Experience	-42.04%	N/A	-30.08%
Mesa Air Group	2.96%	7.07%	2.93%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Wheels Up Experience and Mesa Air Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheels Up Experience	$736.49 million	0.21	-$294.22 million	($8.46)	-0.51
Mesa Air Group	$1.68 billion	0.48	$76.20 million	$0.87	19.68

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

Summary

Mesa Air Group beats Wheels Up Experience on 10 of the 12 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 Mesa Air Group

Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc. that provides regional air carrier scheduled passenger services. The company offers scheduled flight and cargo services. As of September 30, 2023, it operated a fleet of 80 aircraft with approximately 296 daily departures to 86 cities in the United States and Mexico. Mesa Air Group, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.