AAL vs CPA vs ALK Stock Comparison

American Airlines, Copa Holdings and Alaska Air Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (SKYW) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
CPA Copa Holdings, S.A.
$137.90 +4.1% 1M +10.1% 1Y
Market cap
$6.02B
P/E
9.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.99B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
8 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Copa Holdings leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Copa Holdings 8, American Airlines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAALCPAALKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.13B $6.02B $4.46B AAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -28.0x 9.6x -25.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 9.7x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.5% +14.8% +9.8% CPA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.6% 15.7% -1.2% CPA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 15.3% -1.1% CPA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 0.9x 6.1x CPA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.4% +10.1% -8.3% CPA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.7%/yr +13.2%/yr -7.3%/yr CPA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.0% 43.4% 52.4% CPA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 28/100 63/100 37/100 CPA

Percentile Scorecard

AALCPAALK

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAALCPAALK
Valuation 68 #44 of 137 57 #60 of 137 44 #77 of 137
Growth 12 #109 of 124 60 #50 of 124 19 #101 of 124
Profitability 24 #93 of 122 81 #24 of 122 20 #98 of 122
Financial Health 6 #138 of 147 48 #77 of 147 10 #132 of 147
Shareholder Returns – 68 #28 of 85 93 #7 of 85
Overall 28 63 37
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • CPA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • ALK ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAALCPAALKSPY
1 month +1.1%+4.1%-3.2% -2.3%
3 months -18.5%-5.7%-23.8% -0.7%
6 months +10.8%+24.2%+3.6% +4.8%
Year to date -14.7%+14.3%-23.9% +10.3%
1 year -0.4%+10.1%-8.3% +10.3%
3 years +9.2%+58.0%+14.1% +73.0%
3 years, per year +3.0%+16.5%+4.5% +20.1%
5 years -36.6%+85.9%-31.6% +61.9%
5 years, per year -8.7%+13.2%-7.3% +10.1%
10 years -67.1%+52.2%-46.1% +258.6%
10 years, per year -10.5%+4.3%-6.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAALCPAALKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.0%43.4%52.4% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.3%40.3%49.8% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.891.802.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.010.23-0.16 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.3%-42.5%-56.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.9%-12.3%-36.4% -3.5%
52-week high $18.15$157.19$60.21 $779.14
52-week low $10.18$107.81$33.56 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAALCPAALK
P/E now vs peer median -26.6xmedian 16.1x 9.1xmedian 16.1x -24.3xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.9x 1.4xmedian 0.9x 0.3xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 8.1x 5.7xmedian 8.1x 13.3xmedian 8.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.4xmedian 11.4x —median 11.4x -12.2xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median -2.2xmedian 1.2x 2.0xmedian 1.2x 1.2xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.92median 0.75 1.53median 0.75 0.50median 0.75

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAALCPAALK
Revenue $58.34B $3.99B $14.76B
Operating income $1.01B $772.19M -$224.00M
Net income -$326.00M $626.62M -$175.00M
Free cash flow $285.00M – -$350.00M
EPS (diluted) $-0.49 $15.19 $-1.57
Cash & equivalents – $266.83M $1.06B
Total debt $28.93B $2.27B $6.24B
Shares (diluted) 662.61M 41.26M 111.13M
Enterprise value -$14.91B $1.09B -$3.35B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAALCPAALK
P/E -26.6x 9.1x -24.3x
P/FCF 30.4x – -12.2x
P/Operating cash flow 2.0x – 4.2x
P/S 0.1x 1.4x 0.3x
P/B -2.2x 2.0x 1.2x
P/Tangible book -1.4x 2.0x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x 5.7x 13.3x
EV/EBIT 30.6x 8.7x -35.0x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.7x 0.5x
EV/FCF 108.2x – -22.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.1x – 7.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.92 1.53 0.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAALCPAALK
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.5% 14.8% 9.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 5.7% 12.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -51.7% -0.3% -145.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -41.0% 0.9% -43.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -157.5% -1.7% -155.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -28.5% 22.2% -45.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -157.3% -0.5% -160.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 5.9% -48.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.8% – -28.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% – 0.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -81.8% – 9.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.4% – 19.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAALCPAALK
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 5.0% 29.4% 4.0%
Operating margin 1.7% 19.4% -1.5%
Pretax margin -0.6% 18.0% -2.6%
Net margin -0.6% 15.7% -1.2%
FCF margin 0.5% – -2.4%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% – 6.9%
Return on equity – 21.8% -4.7%
Return on assets -0.5% 8.9% -0.8%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 15.3% -1.1%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 14.4% -1.6%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -13.4x – -5.8x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAALCPAALK
Debt / assets 45.0% 31.8% 29.3%
Debt / equity -7.3x 0.8x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 0.9x 6.1x
Debt / FCF 101.5x – -17.8x
Liabilities / assets 106.2% 59.7% 82.7%
Equity / assets -6.2% 40.3% 17.3%
Interest coverage 0.6x 7.3x -0.7x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.1x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.8x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.65 2.26 0.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAALCPAALK
Dividend yield – 4.9% –
Net buyback yield – – 6.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 4.9% 6.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAALCPAALK
Forward P/E – 9.7xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.14FY2026 $14.13FY2026 $-4.68FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -416.7%FY2026 -13.2%FY2026 -291.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +41.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.78BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026 $15.35BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.4%FY2026 +30.3%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% -4.7% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAALCPAALK
Held by institutions 78.0% 62.4% 92.1%
Institutions holding 580 321 492
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% -4.3% +0.0%
Institutions buying 277 187 267
Institutions selling 182 98 146
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.91 1.83

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AALCPAALK
AAL 1.00 0.61 0.79
CPA 0.61 1.00 0.62
ALK 0.79 0.62 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAL, CPA and ALK?

American Airlines (AAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Airlines (AAL) $9.13B, Copa Holdings (CPA) $6.02B, Alaska Air (ALK) $4.46B.

Which company is growing faster?

Copa Holdings (CPA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Airlines (AAL) +7.5%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +14.8%, Alaska Air (ALK) +9.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Copa Holdings (CPA) has the highest net margin (American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.7%, Alaska Air (ALK) -1.2%). On return on invested capital, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads (American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.3%, Alaska Air (ALK) -1.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Copa Holdings (CPA) returned the most: American Airlines (AAL) -0.4%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +10.1%, Alaska Air (ALK) -8.3%. Over five years, Copa Holdings (CPA) compounded fastest (American Airlines (AAL) -8.7%/yr, Copa Holdings (CPA) +13.2%/yr, Alaska Air (ALK) -7.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Copa Holdings (CPA) has been the steadiest (American Airlines (AAL) 47.0%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 43.4%, Alaska Air (ALK) 52.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAL, CPA and ALK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.