AAL vs SKYW vs VLRS Stock Comparison

American Airlines, Skywest and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SKYW Skywest Inc
$79.88 -18.2% 1M -19.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.04B
P/E
7.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.26B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 5, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V 3, American Airlines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAALSKYWVLRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.57B $3.04B $1.03B AAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -17.8x 7.6x -3.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 7.2x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.3% +7.0% +22.0% VLRS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.8% 9.7% -13.8% SKYW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.2% 8.9% 5.5% SKYW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 8.1x 1.9x -2.9x VLRS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.7% -19.1% +7.5% VLRS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.9%/yr +10.1%/yr -16.5%/yr SKYW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.0% 40.4% 51.8% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 27/100 66/100 41/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

AALSKYWVLRS

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

AxisAALSKYWVLRS
Valuation 63 #52 of 137 84 #23 of 137 77 #33 of 137
Growth 14 #110 of 127 64 #47 of 127 26 #94 of 127
Profitability 23 #96 of 125 58 #53 of 125 28 #90 of 125
Financial Health 8 #136 of 147 27 #107 of 147 33 #99 of 147
Shareholder Returns – 96 #5 of 90 –
Overall 27 66 41
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SKYW 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

PeriodAALSKYWVLRSSPY
1 month -0.5%-18.2%+12.3% -5.9%
3 months -19.3%-29.6%-9.2% -4.6%
6 months -1.9%-8.9%-6.4% +0.2%
Year to date -15.7%-20.4%-17.7% +7.5%
1 year -3.7%-19.1%+7.5% +8.2%
3 years +10.9%+81.4%+17.3% +68.3%
3 years, per year +3.5%+22.0%+5.5% +19.0%
5 years -40.7%+61.9%-59.4% +56.5%
5 years, per year -9.9%+10.1%-16.5% +9.4%
10 years -67.5%+170.3%-59.6% +251.5%
10 years, per year -10.6%+10.5%-8.7% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureAALSKYWVLRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.0%40.4%51.8% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.2%41.8%47.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.811.361.74 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.08-0.470.14 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.3%-70.5%-82.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.8%-31.1%-31.2% -5.9%
52-week high $18.15$115.94$10.63 $779.14
52-week low $10.18$77.70$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.

MultipleAALSKYWVLRS
P/E now vs peer median -17.8xmedian 14.1x 7.6xmedian 14.1x -3.8xmedian 14.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.9x 0.7xmedian 0.9x 0.7xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.1xmedian 7.8x 5.2xmedian 7.8x 1.7xmedian 7.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -94.2xmedian 11.7x 15.3xmedian 11.7x 1.0xmedian 11.7x
P/B now vs peer median -2.0xmedian 1.2x 1.1xmedian 1.2x 24.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.56median 0.68 0.05median 0.68 0.18median 0.68

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 monthsAALSKYWVLRS
Revenue $60.98B $4.26B $1.59B
Operating income $972.00M $589.74M $14.00M
Net income -$481.00M $413.07M -$336.00M
Free cash flow -$91.00M $199.17M $1.01B
EPS (diluted) $-0.73 $10.43 $-1.91
Cash & equivalents – $71.75M $803.00M
Total debt $30.57B $2.38B $165.00M
Shares (diluted) 662.71M 39.62M 114.92M
Enterprise value -$16.61B $534.05M -$2.15B

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
MetricAALSKYWVLRS
P/E -17.8x 7.6x -3.8x
P/FCF -94.2x 15.3x 1.0x
P/Operating cash flow 2.0x 3.8x 1.0x
P/S 0.1x 0.7x 0.7x
P/B -2.0x 1.1x 24.6x
P/Tangible book -1.4x 1.1x -1,035x
EV/EBITDA 11.1x 5.2x 1.7x
EV/EBIT 32.9x 8.2x 26.9x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.1x 0.2x
EV/FCF -351.3x 24.3x 0.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.5x 6.1x 0.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.56 0.05 0.18

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAALSKYWVLRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.3% 7.0% 22.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 14.1% -1.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -54.8% -6.1% -90.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -36.3% 142.4% -51.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -179.9% -4.9% -104.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -32.0% 150.1% -65.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -179.6% -0.7% -260.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -31.9% 155.4% -21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.2% -10.7% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.1% 7.2% 14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -110.3% -45.8% 25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -26.7% -18.8% 14.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAALSKYWVLRS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 4.7% 22.1% 14.1%
Operating margin 1.6% 13.9% 0.9%
Pretax margin -0.9% 12.5% -17.5%
Net margin -0.8% 9.7% -13.8%
FCF margin -0.1% 4.7% 63.5%
Operating cash flow margin 7.0% 18.8% 63.5%
Return on equity – 14.8% -610.9%
Return on assets -0.7% 5.5% -5.8%
Return on invested capital 3.2% 8.9% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 10.3% 0.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -8.9x 1.9x -3.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAALSKYWVLRS
Debt / assets 47.0% 31.7% 2.8%
Debt / equity -7.2x 0.8x 3.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 8.1x 1.9x -2.9x
Debt / FCF -335.9x 11.9x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 106.5% 62.6% 99.3%
Equity / assets -6.5% 37.4% 0.7%
Interest coverage 0.6x 5.9x 0.0x
Current ratio 0.5x 0.6x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.66 1.72 0.15

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAALSKYWVLRS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 8.3% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 8.3% –
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.

ConsensusAALSKYWVLRS
Forward P/E – 7.2xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.26FY2026 $11.15FY2026 $-1.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -450.0%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – -7.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.91BFY2026 $4.58BFY2026 $3.56BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.7%FY2026 +12.8%FY2026 +16.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.2% +2.2% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAALSKYWVLRS
Held by institutions 78.0% 92.2% 28.4%
Institutions holding 580 351 75
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% -1.1% -2.2%
Institutions buying 277 182 32
Institutions selling 182 140 24
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.30 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.

AALSKYWVLRS
AAL 1.00 0.68 0.55
SKYW 0.68 1.00 0.43
VLRS 0.55 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAL, SKYW and VLRS?

American Airlines (AAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Airlines (AAL) $8.57B, Skywest (SKYW) $3.04B, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) $1.03B.

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) +12.3%, Skywest (SKYW) +7.0%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +22.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Skywest (SKYW) has the highest net margin (American Airlines (AAL) -0.8%, Skywest (SKYW) 9.7%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.8%). On return on invested capital, Skywest (SKYW) leads (American Airlines (AAL) 3.2%, Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) returned the most: American Airlines (AAL) -3.7%, Skywest (SKYW) -19.1%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +7.5%. Over five years, Skywest (SKYW) compounded fastest (American Airlines (AAL) -9.9%/yr, Skywest (SKYW) +10.1%/yr, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -16.5%/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) 47.0%, Skywest (SKYW) 40.4%, 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, SKYW 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, Skywest (SKYW) leads on 5. 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.