AAL vs SKYW vs DAL Stock Comparison

American Airlines, Skywest and Delta Air Lines Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SKYW Skywest Inc
$94.10 -8.0% 1M -6.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.77B
P/E
9.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
6 wins
DAL Delta Air Lines, Inc.
$79.19 -6.8% 1M +29.9% 1Y
Market cap
$53.46B
P/E
16.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$71.80B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 6, Delta Air Lines 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAALSKYWDALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.36B $3.77B $53.46B DAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -25.6x 9.2x 16.2x SKYW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 8.4x 15.4x SKYW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.5% +9.1% +14.1% DAL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.6% 9.8% 4.6% SKYW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 8.9% 10.8% DAL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 1.8x 1.3x DAL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -11.5% -6.2% +29.9% DAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.5%/yr +15.7%/yr +15.2%/yr SKYW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.1% 37.4% 38.6% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 29/100 70/100 38/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

AALSKYWDAL

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

AxisAALSKYWDAL
Valuation 70 #42 of 136 84 #23 of 136 65 #48 of 136
Growth 14 #105 of 122 82 #23 of 122 47 #65 of 122
Profitability 24 #89 of 116 64 #43 of 116 46 #63 of 116
Financial Health 8 #133 of 144 29 #102 of 144 22 #112 of 144
Shareholder Returns – 91 #8 of 82 7 #76 of 82
Overall 29 70 38
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SKYW ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • DAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAALSKYWDALSPY
1 month -12.0%-8.0%-6.8% -0.8%
3 months -18.4%-14.7%-8.6% +3.5%
6 months +4.5%+12.7%+16.1% +7.0%
Year to date -20.4%-6.3%+14.1% +12.2%
1 year -11.5%-6.2%+29.9% +13.0%
3 years +11.7%+122.6%+158.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +3.8%+30.6%+37.2% +23.1%
5 years -35.9%+107.0%+102.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.5%+15.7%+15.2% +11.0%
10 years -69.0%+221.7%+91.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year -11.0%+12.4%+6.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAALSKYWDALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.1%37.4%38.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.8%35.9%34.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.921.311.72 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.170.78 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.3%-70.5%-48.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.8%-18.8%-15.4% -1.8%
52-week high $18.15$115.94$93.66 $779.14
52-week low $10.18$78.40$55.65 $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.

MultipleAALSKYWDAL
P/E now vs peer median -24.8xmedian 16.1x 9.1xmedian 16.1x 15.8xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 1.0x 0.9xmedian 1.0x 0.7xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.4xmedian 8.7x 5.6xmedian 8.7x 7.9xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.3xmedian 11.5x 9.8xmedian 11.5x 17.2xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median -2.0xmedian 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x 2.3xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.86median 0.81 0.03median 0.81 -8.49median 0.81

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 monthsAALSKYWDAL
Revenue $58.34B $4.19B $71.80B
Operating income $1.01B $587.86M $5.29B
Net income -$326.00M $409.91M $3.29B
Free cash flow $285.00M $371.69M $3.02B
EPS (diluted) $-0.49 $10.35 $4.99
Cash & equivalents – $81.41M $3.79B
Total debt $28.93B $2.31B $13.95B
Shares (diluted) 662.61M 39.62M 659.00M
Enterprise value -$15.68B $1.08B $35.65B

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
MetricAALSKYWDAL
P/E -24.8x 9.1x 15.8x
P/FCF 28.3x 9.8x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 1.8x 3.9x 6.5x
P/S 0.1x 0.9x 0.7x
P/B -2.0x 1.3x 2.3x
P/Tangible book -1.3x 1.3x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA 10.4x 5.6x 7.9x
EV/EBIT 30.0x 9.1x 11.8x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.3x 0.9x
EV/FCF 106.2x 14.4x 20.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.9x 5.7x 7.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.86 0.03 -8.49

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAALSKYWDAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.5% 9.1% 14.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 13.2% 7.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -51.7% 0.5% -12.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -41.0% 105.6% -2.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -157.5% 0.5% -28.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -28.5% 327.5% -1.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -157.3% 4.9% -29.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 343.1% -1.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.8% 18.9% 0.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% 16.6% 4.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -81.8% 23.1% -1.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 42.2% 36.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAALSKYWDAL
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 5.0% 22.8% 11.0%
Operating margin 1.7% 14.0% 7.4%
Pretax margin -0.6% 12.6% 6.1%
Net margin -0.6% 9.8% 4.6%
FCF margin 0.5% 8.9% 4.2%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 22.6% 11.1%
Return on equity – 14.9% 14.8%
Return on assets -0.5% 5.6% 3.8%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 8.9% 10.8%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 10.5% 10.0%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -13.4x 2.3x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAALSKYWDAL
Debt / assets 45.0% 31.2% 16.2%
Debt / equity -7.3x 0.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 1.8x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 101.5x 6.2x 4.6x
Liabilities / assets 106.2% 62.7% 73.8%
Equity / assets -6.2% 37.3% 26.2%
Interest coverage 0.6x 5.9x –
Current ratio 0.5x 0.6x 0.4x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 0.64 1.78 1.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAALSKYWDAL
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 5.5% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 5.5% 1.0%
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.

ConsensusAALSKYWDAL
Forward P/E – 8.4xFY2026 15.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.14FY2026 $11.20FY2026 $5.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -416.7%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026 -11.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +2.1% +40.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.78BFY2026 $4.61BFY2026 $71.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.4%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026 +21.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +4.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAALSKYWDAL
Held by institutions 78.0% 92.2% 88.2%
Institutions holding 578 350 1,511
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% -1.1% +0.6%
Institutions buying 276 181 815
Institutions selling 182 140 483
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.29 1.69

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.

AALSKYWDAL
AAL 1.00 0.72 0.85
SKYW 0.72 1.00 0.77
DAL 0.85 0.77 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAL, SKYW and DAL?

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Airlines (AAL) $8.36B, Skywest (SKYW) $3.77B, Delta Air Lines (DAL) $53.46B.

Which stock is cheaper, AAL, SKYW and DAL?

Skywest (SKYW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Airlines (AAL) -25.6x, Skywest (SKYW) 9.2x, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 16.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Skywest (SKYW) is cheapest (Skywest (SKYW) 8.4x, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 15.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Delta Air Lines (DAL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Airlines (AAL) +7.5%, Skywest (SKYW) +9.1%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +14.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Skywest (SKYW) has the highest net margin (American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%, Skywest (SKYW) 9.8%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 4.6%). On return on invested capital, Delta Air Lines (DAL) leads (American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%, Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 10.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Delta Air Lines (DAL) returned the most: American Airlines (AAL) -11.5%, Skywest (SKYW) -6.2%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +29.9%. Over five years, Skywest (SKYW) compounded fastest (American Airlines (AAL) -8.5%/yr, Skywest (SKYW) +15.7%/yr, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +15.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Skywest (SKYW) has been the steadiest (American Airlines (AAL) 47.1%, Skywest (SKYW) 37.4%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 38.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAL, SKYW and DAL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Skywest (SKYW) leads on 6. 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.