Reviewing Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) and Global X Space Tech ETF (NASDAQ:ORBX)

Global X Space Tech ETF (NASDAQ:ORBX) and Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Global X Space Tech ETF and Iridium Communications, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global X Space Tech ETF	0	7	2	0	2.55
Iridium Communications	1	4	3	0	2.25

Global X Space Tech ETF presently has a consensus price target of $38.74, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Iridium Communications has a consensus price target of $38.67, indicating a potential downside of 13.24%. Given Global X Space Tech ETF’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Global X Space Tech ETF is more favorable than Iridium Communications.

Volatility and Risk

Global X Space Tech ETF has a beta of 5.03, indicating that its stock price is 403% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iridium Communications has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Global X Space Tech ETF and Iridium Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global X Space Tech ETF	N/A	N/A	N/A
Iridium Communications	10.55%	22.57%	4.11%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Global X Space Tech ETF and Iridium Communications”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global X Space Tech ETF	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Iridium Communications	$871.66 million	5.42	$114.37 million	$0.88	50.64

Iridium Communications has higher revenue and earnings than Global X Space Tech ETF.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.4% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Iridium Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Iridium Communications beats Global X Space Tech ETF on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc. provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services. It also provides hosted payload and other data services, such as satellite time and location services; and inbound connections from the public switched telephone network, short message, subscriber identity module, activation, customer reactivation, and other peripheral services. In addition, the company offers voice and data solutions comprising personnel tracking devices; asset tracking devices for equipment, vehicles, and aircrafts; beyond-line-of-sight aircraft communications applications; maritime communications applications; specialized communications solutions for high-value individuals; mobile communications and data devices for the military and other government agencies, such as secure satellite handsets, as well as netted voice, messaging, and paging services; and maintenance services for the United States government's dedicated gateway. Further, it provides satellite handsets, voice and data modems, broadband data devices, and IoT data devices; various accessories for its devices that include batteries, holsters, earbud headphones, portable auxiliary antennas, antenna adaptors, USB data cables, charging units, and others; and engineering and support services. Iridium Communications Inc. sells its products and services to commercial end users through a wholesale distribution network that include service providers, and value-added resellers and manufacturers. The company was formerly known as Iridium Holdings LLC and changed its name to Iridium Communications Inc. in September 2009. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.