ALK vs LUV vs SKYW Stock Comparison

Alaska Air, Southwest Airlines and Skywest Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LUV Southwest Airlines Co
$41.74 +1.7% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$20.96B
P/E
19.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.55B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
4 wins
SKYW Skywest Inc
$93.03 -6.3% 1M -6.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.71B
P/E
9.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 7, Southwest Airlines 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALKLUVSKYWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.88B $20.96B $3.71B LUV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -22.2x 19.9x 9.0x SKYW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 15.7x 8.3x SKYW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.8% +14.5% +9.1% LUV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.2% 3.3% 9.8% SKYW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.1% 8.2% 8.9% SKYW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.1x 0.8x 1.8x LUV
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -26.2% +31.9% -6.1% LUV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr -2.6%/yr +14.8%/yr SKYW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.3% 43.4% 37.4% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 59/100 70/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

ALKLUVSKYW

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

AxisALKLUVSKYW
Valuation 49 #70 of 136 54 #63 of 136 84 #22 of 136
Growth 20 #98 of 122 88 #15 of 122 82 #23 of 122
Profitability 20 #95 of 119 43 #68 of 119 65 #42 of 119
Financial Health 11 #131 of 147 32 #100 of 147 29 #105 of 147
Shareholder Returns 98 #3 of 84 77 #20 of 84 90 #9 of 84
Overall 40 59 70
  • ALK ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • LUV ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SKYW ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodALKLUVSKYWSPY
1 month -13.3%+1.7%-6.3% -1.0%
3 months -25.5%-7.4%-10.2% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%+5.8%+8.1% +6.4%
Year to date -31.6%+1.0%-7.3% +11.4%
1 year -26.2%+31.9%-6.1% +13.1%
3 years +8.0%+74.6%+143.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +2.6%+20.4%+34.6% +21.5%
5 years -36.1%-12.4%+99.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year -8.6%-2.6%+14.8% +10.9%
10 years -53.9%-1.6%+209.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year -7.4%-0.2%+11.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureALKLUVSKYWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.3%43.4%37.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.6%38.3%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.241.591.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.500.73-0.16 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -56.2%-57.4%-70.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -42.9%-23.8%-19.8% -2.5%
52-week high $60.21$54.80$115.94 $779.14
52-week low $33.56$29.67$78.40 $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.

MultipleALKLUVSKYW
P/E now vs peer median -21.8xmedian 16.0x 19.4xmedian 16.0x 8.9xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.0x 0.6xmedian 1.0x 0.9xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 8.7x 7.7xmedian 8.7x 5.6xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median -11.0xmedian 11.5x -45.5xmedian 11.5x 9.7xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.2x 2.8xmedian 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.45median 0.82 0.48median 0.82 0.03median 0.82

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 monthsALKLUVSKYW
Revenue $14.76B $31.55B $4.19B
Operating income -$224.00M $1.39B $587.86M
Net income -$175.00M $1.05B $409.91M
Free cash flow -$350.00M -$449.00M $371.69M
EPS (diluted) $-1.57 $2.13 $10.35
Cash & equivalents $1.06B $3.62B $81.41M
Total debt $6.24B $5.89B $9.64B
Shares (diluted) 111.13M 494.00M 39.62M
Enterprise value -$3.94B $6.98B $1.02B

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
MetricALKLUVSKYW
P/E -21.8x 19.4x 8.9x
P/FCF -11.0x -45.5x 9.7x
P/Operating cash flow 3.8x 7.4x 3.8x
P/S 0.3x 0.6x 0.9x
P/B 1.0x 2.8x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 2.8x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 12.6x 7.7x 5.6x
EV/EBIT -33.1x 16.4x 9.1x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.7x 1.3x
EV/FCF -21.2x -50.6x 14.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.3x 8.2x 5.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.45 0.48 0.03

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALKLUVSKYW
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.8% 14.5% 9.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 7.4% 13.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -145.3% 339.7% 0.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -43.4% 78.6% 105.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -155.9% 177.8% 0.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -45.7% 28.4% 327.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -160.8% 195.8% 4.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -48.4% 40.0% 343.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -28.5% 36.2% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% -6.0% 16.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% -35.2% 23.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% 20.2% 42.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALKLUVSKYW
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 4.0% 9.4% 22.8%
Operating margin -1.5% 4.4% 14.0%
Pretax margin -2.6% 4.3% 12.6%
Net margin -1.2% 3.3% 9.8%
FCF margin -2.4% -1.4% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 6.9% 8.7% 22.6%
Return on equity -4.7% 14.6% 14.9%
Return on assets -0.8% 3.5% 5.6%
Return on invested capital -1.1% 8.2% 8.9%
Return on capital employed -1.6% 8.3% 10.5%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.0x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -5.8x 2.6x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALKLUVSKYW
Debt / assets 29.3% 19.3% 31.2%
Debt / equity 1.7x 0.8x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.1x 0.8x 1.8x
Debt / FCF -17.8x -13.1x 6.2x
Liabilities / assets 82.7% 76.0% 62.7%
Equity / assets 17.3% 24.0% 37.3%
Interest coverage -0.7x 5.9x 5.9x
Current ratio 0.5x 0.5x 0.6x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.4x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.92 2.20 1.78

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALKLUVSKYW
Dividend yield – 1.7% –
Net buyback yield 7.4% 6.1% 5.6%
Shareholder yield 7.4% 7.8% 5.6%
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.

ConsensusALKLUVSKYW
Forward P/E – 15.7xFY2026 8.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.57FY2026 $2.66FY2026 $11.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -246.3%FY2026 +186.0%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +62.4% +2.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.35BFY2026 $31.07BFY2026 $4.61BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.8%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.7% +15.6% +4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALKLUVSKYW
Held by institutions 92.1% 92.9% 92.2%
Institutions holding 490 930 350
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.0% +4.4% -1.1%
Institutions buying 265 476 181
Institutions selling 146 280 140
Buyers to sellers 1.82 1.70 1.29

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.

ALKLUVSKYW
ALK 1.00 0.75 0.77
LUV 0.75 1.00 0.67
SKYW 0.77 0.67 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALK, LUV and SKYW?

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alaska Air (ALK) $3.88B, Southwest Airlines (LUV) $20.96B, Skywest (SKYW) $3.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALK, LUV and SKYW?

Skywest (SKYW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alaska Air (ALK) -22.2x, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 19.9x, Skywest (SKYW) 9.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Skywest (SKYW) is cheapest (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 15.7x, Skywest (SKYW) 8.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Southwest Airlines (LUV) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alaska Air (ALK) +9.8%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +14.5%, Skywest (SKYW) +9.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Skywest (SKYW) has the highest net margin (Alaska Air (ALK) -1.2%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 3.3%, Skywest (SKYW) 9.8%). On return on invested capital, Skywest (SKYW) leads (Alaska Air (ALK) -1.1%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 8.2%, Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southwest Airlines (LUV) returned the most: Alaska Air (ALK) -26.2%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +31.9%, Skywest (SKYW) -6.1%. Over five years, Skywest (SKYW) compounded fastest (Alaska Air (ALK) -8.6%/yr, Southwest Airlines (LUV) -2.6%/yr, Skywest (SKYW) +14.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Skywest (SKYW) has been the steadiest (Alaska Air (ALK) 52.3%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 43.4%, Skywest (SKYW) 37.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALK, LUV and SKYW?

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 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.