AAL vs VLRS vs RYAAY Stock Comparison

American Airlines, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V and Ryanair Holdings Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (DAL) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
RYAAY Ryanair Holdings Plc
$53.39 -3.8% 1M -12.4% 1Y
Market cap
$29.30B
P/E
14.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ryanair Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ryanair Holdings 6, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V 2, American Airlines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAALVLRSRYAAYLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.71B $780.89M $29.30B RYAAY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -26.7x -3.5x 14.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 14.9x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.5% +22.0% +13.3% VLRS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.6% -13.8% 11.4% RYAAY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 5.5% 16.9% RYAAY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -2.9x -0.7x VLRS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.5% -3.1% -12.4% AAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.8%/yr -19.3%/yr +3.3%/yr RYAAY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.8% 51.3% 36.6% RYAAY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 29/100 32/100 62/100 RYAAY

Percentile Scorecard

AALVLRSRYAAY

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

AxisAALVLRSRYAAY
Valuation 70 #42 of 136 42 #80 of 136 57 #59 of 136
Growth 12 #107 of 121 27 #89 of 121 50 #61 of 121
Profitability 24 #85 of 112 27 #82 of 112 82 #21 of 112
Financial Health 9 #128 of 140 32 #95 of 140 73 #38 of 140
Shareholder Returns – – 47 #43 of 80
Overall 29 32 62
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • VLRS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • RYAAY ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAALVLRSRYAAYSPY
1 month -6.1%-7.6%-3.8% +0.7%
3 months -17.2%-22.1%-11.3% +3.7%
6 months +9.1%-16.3%-2.3% +7.1%
Year to date -16.6%-30.2%-26.0% +12.8%
1 year -1.5%-3.1%-12.4% +11.9%
3 years +14.3%+2.0%+49.3% +85.2%
3 years, per year +4.6%+0.7%+14.3% +22.8%
5 years -33.4%-65.7%+17.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year -7.8%-19.3%+3.3% +10.9%
10 years -68.1%-66.8%+77.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year -10.8%-10.5%+5.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAALVLRSRYAAYSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.8%51.3%36.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.2%47.3%35.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.931.991.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.03-0.06-0.34 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -59.3%-82.8%-54.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.6%-41.7%-27.7% -1.2%
52-week high $18.15$10.63$73.82 $779.14
52-week low $10.18$5.58$51.33 $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.

MultipleAALVLRSRYAAY
P/E now vs peer median -26.0xmedian 16.5x -3.2xmedian 16.5x 13.6xmedian 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.9x 0.6xmedian 0.9x 1.5xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.5xmedian 8.8x 1.0xmedian 8.8x 6.2xmedian 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.7xmedian 11.9x 0.9xmedian 11.9x 12.9xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median -2.1xmedian 1.2x 20.9xmedian 1.2x 2.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.90median 0.84 0.15median 0.84 3.43median 0.84

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 monthsAALVLRSRYAAY
Revenue $58.34B $1.59B $18.19B
Operating income $1.01B $14.00M $2.38B
Net income -$326.00M -$336.00M $2.21B
Free cash flow $285.00M $1.01B $2.16B
EPS (diluted) $-0.49 $-1.91 $3.90
Cash & equivalents – $803.00M $2.84B
Total debt $28.93B $165.00M $4.75B
Shares (diluted) 662.61M 114.92M 532.20M
Enterprise value -$15.33B -$2.41B $12.94B

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
MetricAALVLRSRYAAY
P/E -26.0x -3.2x 13.6x
P/FCF 29.7x 0.9x 12.9x
P/Operating cash flow 1.9x 0.9x 6.9x
P/S 0.1x 0.6x 1.5x
P/B -2.1x 20.9x 2.6x
P/Tangible book -1.4x -877.7x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 10.5x 1.0x 6.2x
EV/EBIT 30.4x 15.7x 10.6x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.1x 1.4x
EV/FCF 107.5x 0.2x 11.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.0x 0.2x 6.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.90 0.15 3.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAALVLRSRYAAY
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.5% 22.0% 13.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.3% -1.7% 12.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -51.7% -90.8% 0.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -41.0% -51.0% 6.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -157.5% -104.9% -4.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -28.5% -65.6% 6.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -157.3% -260.0% -13.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -28.8% -21.0% 4.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 6.8% 25.2% -1.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% 14.1% 0.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -81.8% 25.2% -21.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 14.1% -7.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAALVLRSRYAAY
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 5.0% 14.1% 22.3%
Operating margin 1.7% 0.9% 13.1%
Pretax margin -0.6% -17.5% 13.4%
Net margin -0.6% -13.8% 11.4%
FCF margin 0.5% 63.5% 11.9%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 63.5% 22.1%
Return on equity – -610.9% 18.5%
Return on assets -0.5% -5.8% 9.6%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 5.5% 16.9%
Return on capital employed 2.7% 0.4% 18.7%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.3x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -13.4x -3.0x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAALVLRSRYAAY
Debt / assets 45.0% 2.8% 0.2%
Debt / equity -7.3x 3.9x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -2.9x -0.7x
Debt / FCF 101.5x 0.2x 0.0x
Liabilities / assets 106.2% 99.3% 47.8%
Equity / assets -6.2% 0.7% 52.2%
Interest coverage 0.6x 0.0x –
Current ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.6x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.4x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.65 0.13 3.38

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAALVLRSRYAAY
Dividend yield – – 2.5%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% – 2.5%
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.

ConsensusAALVLRSRYAAY
Forward P/E – – 14.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.14FY2026 $-1.93FY2026 $3.58FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -416.7%FY2026 – -24.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – -6.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.78BFY2026 $3.52BFY2026 $18.47BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.4%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +6.2% 0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAALVLRSRYAAY
Held by institutions 78.0% 28.4% 39.9%
Institutions holding 579 75 411
Change in shares held, QoQ +16.5% -2.1% -0.8%
Institutions buying 277 32 192
Institutions selling 182 24 148
Buyers to sellers 1.52 1.33 1.30

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.

AALVLRSRYAAY
AAL 1.00 0.55 0.56
VLRS 0.55 1.00 0.53
RYAAY 0.56 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAL, VLRS and RYAAY?

Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Airlines (AAL) $8.71B, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) $780.89M, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) $29.30B.

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%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +22.0%, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) +13.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) has the highest net margin (American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.8%, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) leads (American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 5.5%, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 16.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Airlines (AAL) returned the most: American Airlines (AAL) -1.5%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -3.1%, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) -12.4%. Over five years, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) compounded fastest (American Airlines (AAL) -7.8%/yr, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -19.3%/yr, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) +3.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) has been the steadiest (American Airlines (AAL) 46.8%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 51.3%, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 36.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 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.