AAL vs LUV vs VLRS Stock Comparison

American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LUV Southwest Airlines Co
$43.49 +2.9% 1M +39.9% 1Y
Market cap
$21.29B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.55B
Div. yield
1.66%
Airlines Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Southwest Airlines leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Southwest Airlines 7, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAALLUVVLRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.33B $21.29B $862.15M LUV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -25.6x 20.2x -3.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 16.7x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.5% +14.5% +22.0% VLRS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.6% 3.3% -13.8% LUV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 8.2% 5.5% LUV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 0.8x -2.9x VLRS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 1.66% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.0% +39.9% -11.7% LUV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.1%/yr -1.7%/yr -19.6%/yr LUV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.8% 43.3% 51.8% LUV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 29/100 58/100 33/100 LUV

Percentile Scorecard

AALLUVVLRS

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

AxisAALLUVVLRS
Valuation 70 #41 of 136 49 #70 of 136 45 #75 of 136
Growth 12 #108 of 122 88 #16 of 122 28 #88 of 122
Profitability 24 #89 of 116 44 #65 of 116 26 #86 of 116
Financial Health 9 #131 of 143 32 #97 of 143 33 #96 of 143
Shareholder Returns – 78 #19 of 81 –
Overall 29 58 33
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • LUV ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • VLRS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAALLUVVLRSSPY
1 month -7.0%+2.9%-9.9% +0.9%
3 months -15.2%-2.0%-19.7% +5.9%
6 months +11.2%+16.8%-14.2% +8.5%
Year to date -17.9%+5.2%-31.4% +13.3%
1 year -1.0%+39.9%-11.7% +12.4%
3 years +15.2%+94.7%+1.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +4.8%+24.9%+0.6% +23.5%
5 years -34.5%-8.0%-66.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year -8.1%-1.7%-19.6% +11.0%
10 years -68.6%+11.0%-67.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year -10.9%+1.0%-10.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAALLUVVLRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.8%43.3%51.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.2%38.1%48.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.931.612.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.020.92-0.23 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.3%-57.4%-82.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.7%-20.6%-42.7% -0.9%
52-week high $18.15$54.80$10.63 $779.14
52-week low $10.18$29.67$5.58 $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.

MultipleAALLUVVLRS
P/E now vs peer median -25.6xmedian 16.1x 20.2xmedian 16.1x -3.2xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.9x 0.7xmedian 0.9x 0.5xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 8.6x 8.0xmedian 8.6x 0.9xmedian 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 11.6x -47.4xmedian 11.6x 0.9xmedian 11.6x
P/B now vs peer median -2.1xmedian 1.2x 2.9xmedian 1.2x 20.5xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.89median 0.80 0.50median 0.80 0.15median 0.80

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 monthsAALLUVVLRS
Revenue $58.34B $31.55B $1.59B
Operating income $1.01B $1.39B $14.00M
Net income -$326.00M $1.05B -$336.00M
Free cash flow $285.00M -$449.00M $1.01B
EPS (diluted) $-0.49 $2.13 $-1.91
Cash & equivalents – $3.62B $803.00M
Total debt $28.93B $5.89B $165.00M
Shares (diluted) 662.61M 494.00M 114.92M
Enterprise value -$15.71B $7.32B -$2.32B

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
MetricAALLUVVLRS
P/E -25.6x 20.2x -3.2x
P/FCF 29.2x -47.4x 0.9x
P/Operating cash flow 1.9x 7.7x 0.9x
P/S 0.1x 0.7x 0.5x
P/B -2.1x 2.9x 20.5x
P/Tangible book -1.4x 2.9x -862.1x
EV/EBITDA 10.5x 8.0x 0.9x
EV/EBIT 30.3x 17.0x 14.6x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.7x 0.1x
EV/FCF 107.1x -52.5x 0.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.0x 8.5x 0.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.89 0.50 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAALLUVVLRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.5% 14.5% 22.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 7.4% -1.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -51.7% 339.7% -90.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -41.0% 78.6% -51.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -157.5% 177.8% -104.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -28.5% 28.4% -65.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -157.3% 195.8% -260.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 40.0% -21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.8% 36.2% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% -6.0% 14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -81.8% -35.2% 25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 20.2% 14.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAALLUVVLRS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 5.0% 9.4% 14.1%
Operating margin 1.7% 4.4% 0.9%
Pretax margin -0.6% 4.3% -17.5%
Net margin -0.6% 3.3% -13.8%
FCF margin 0.5% -1.4% 63.5%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 8.7% 63.5%
Return on equity – 14.6% -610.9%
Return on assets -0.5% 3.5% -5.8%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 8.2% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 8.3% 0.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.0x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -13.4x 2.6x -3.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAALLUVVLRS
Debt / assets 45.0% 19.3% 2.8%
Debt / equity -7.3x 0.8x 3.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 0.8x -2.9x
Debt / FCF 101.5x -13.1x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 106.2% 76.0% 99.3%
Equity / assets -6.2% 24.0% 0.7%
Interest coverage 0.6x 5.9x 0.0x
Current ratio 0.5x 0.5x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.65 2.22 0.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAALLUVVLRS
Dividend yield – 1.7% –
Net buyback yield – 5.8% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 7.5% –
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.

ConsensusAALLUVVLRS
Forward P/E – 16.7xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.14FY2026 $2.60FY2026 $-1.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -416.7%FY2026 +179.6%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +58.8% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.78BFY2026 $31.34BFY2026 $3.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.4%FY2026 +11.7%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +16.7% +6.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAALLUVVLRS
Held by institutions 78.0% 92.9% 28.4%
Institutions holding 578 930 75
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% +4.4% -2.1%
Institutions buying 276 476 32
Institutions selling 182 280 24
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.70 1.33

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.

AALLUVVLRS
AAL 1.00 0.75 0.55
LUV 0.75 1.00 0.55
VLRS 0.55 0.55 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAL, LUV and VLRS?

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Airlines (AAL) $8.33B, Southwest Airlines (LUV) $21.29B, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) $862.15M.

Which company is growing faster?

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Airlines (AAL) +7.5%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +14.5%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +22.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southwest Airlines (LUV) has the highest net margin (American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 3.3%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.8%). On return on invested capital, Southwest Airlines (LUV) leads (American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 8.2%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southwest Airlines (LUV) returned the most: American Airlines (AAL) -1.0%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +39.9%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -11.7%. Over five years, Southwest Airlines (LUV) compounded fastest (American Airlines (AAL) -8.1%/yr, Southwest Airlines (LUV) -1.7%/yr, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -19.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Airlines (AAL) 0.00%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 1.66%. American Airlines (AAL) and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been the steadiest (American Airlines (AAL) 46.8%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 43.3%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 51.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAL, LUV and VLRS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Southwest Airlines (LUV) leads on 7. 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.