ARCB vs SAIA vs SFWL Stock Comparison

Arcbest, Saia and Shengfeng Development Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARCB Arcbest Corp /Tx/
$126.41 -1.9% 1M +74.8% 1Y
Market cap
$2.78B
P/E
170.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.20B
Div. yield
0.00%
Trucking Industrials
3 wins
SAIA Saia Inc
$343.07 +2.0% 1M +23.7% 1Y
Market cap
$9.20B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.54B
Div. yield
–
Trucking Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Saia leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Saia 7, Arcbest 3, Shengfeng Development 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARCBSAIASFWLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.78B $9.20B $22.05M SAIA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 170.4x 32.5x — SAIA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.2x 32.3x — ARCB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +9.3% — SAIA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.4% 8.0% — SAIA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.5% 10.0% — SAIA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x -0.2x — SAIA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +74.8% +23.7% +330.3% SFWL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.1%/yr +1.9%/yr — ARCB
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.6% 47.0% 271.6% ARCB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 47/100 — SAIA

Percentile Scorecard

ARCBSAIASFWL

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

AxisARCBSAIASFWL
Valuation 44 #77 of 136 24 #104 of 136 –
Growth 17 #101 of 121 58 #52 of 121 –
Profitability 32 #76 of 112 60 #45 of 112 –
Financial Health 60 #56 of 140 91 #13 of 140 42 #82 of 140
Shareholder Returns 28 #58 of 80 4 #77 of 80 –
Overall 36 47 –
  • ARCB ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SAIA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SFWL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARCBSAIASFWLSPY
1 month -1.9%+2.0%-47.9% +0.7%
3 months -11.0%-2.2%+317.6% +3.7%
6 months -0.9%-23.6%+373.3% +7.1%
Year to date +70.4%+5.1%+348.4% +12.8%
1 year +74.8%+23.7%+330.3% +11.9%
3 years +14.0%-4.0%-65.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +4.5%-1.3%-29.8% +22.8%
5 years +40.7%+9.7%— +67.6%
5 years, per year +7.1%+1.9%— +10.9%
10 years +549.9%+866.4%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +20.6%+25.5%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARCBSAIASFWLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.6%47.0%271.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.5%47.1%94.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.191.33-0.85 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.610.501.22 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.6%-60.9%-95.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.0%-29.6%-62.7% -1.2%
52-week high $173.22$487.14$11.43 $779.14
52-week low $59.62$250.48$0.69 $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.

MultipleARCBSAIASFWL
P/E now vs peer median 173.4xmedian 16.5x 32.5xmedian 16.5x —median 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.9x 2.6xmedian 0.9x —median 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.8xmedian 8.8x 14.3xmedian 8.8x —median 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 11.9x 32.8xmedian 11.9x —median 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.2x 3.2xmedian 1.2x 0.3xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -3.00median 0.84 -5.76median 0.84 —median 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 monthsARCBSAIASFWL
Revenue $4.20B $3.54B –
Operating income $29.18M $378.33M –
Net income $16.30M $283.09M –
Free cash flow $187.04M $278.80M –
EPS (diluted) $0.73 $10.56 –
Cash & equivalents $145.85M $202.52M $16.90M
Total debt $215.55M $100.00M $212.66M
Shares (diluted) 22.35M 26.82M 5.50M
Enterprise value $2.27B $8.86B -$118.57M

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
MetricARCBSAIASFWL
P/E 173.4x 32.5x –
P/FCF 15.1x 32.8x –
P/Operating cash flow 10.0x 14.8x –
P/S 0.7x 2.6x –
P/B 2.2x 3.2x 0.3x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 3.2x 0.3x
EV/EBITDA 13.8x 14.3x –
EV/EBIT 98.5x 23.9x –
EV/Revenue 0.7x 2.6x –
EV/FCF 15.4x 32.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 10.2x 14.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.00 -5.76 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARCBSAIASFWL
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 9.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -3.3% 8.3% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -86.6% -2.9% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -49.7% -4.9% –
Net income growth (1Y) -89.7% -0.2% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -59.1% -5.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) -89.4% -0.3% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -57.7% -5.6% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.3% -0.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.2% 4.3% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 165.4% 2,140% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.5% 33.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARCBSAIASFWL
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 4.9% 17.9% –
Operating margin 0.7% 10.7% –
Pretax margin 0.5% 10.6% –
Net margin 0.4% 8.0% –
FCF margin 4.4% 7.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 6.7% 17.5% –
Return on equity 1.3% 8.5% –
Return on assets 0.7% 6.2% –
Return on invested capital 1.5% 10.0% –
Return on capital employed 1.7% 11.1% –
Asset turnover 1.7x 0.9x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 17.3x 2.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARCBSAIASFWL
Debt / assets 8.8% 2.6% 23.6%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.0x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x -0.2x –
Debt / FCF 1.2x 0.4x –
Liabilities / assets 48.3% 26.7% 57.4%
Equity / assets 51.7% 73.3% 42.6%
Interest coverage 2.0x 39.5x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.8x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.7x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.01 7.60 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARCBSAIASFWL
Dividend yield 0.4% – –
Net buyback yield 1.5% 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 1.9% 0.0% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 66.2% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.8% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -3.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -2.7% – –

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.

ConsensusARCBSAIASFWL
Forward P/E 19.2xFY2026 32.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $6.60FY2026 $10.63FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +78.4%FY2026 +16.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +49.8% +28.5% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.39BFY2026 $3.87BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +9.5%FY2026 +19.9%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +7.9% -5.5% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARCBSAIASFWL
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% –
Institutions holding 328 514 –
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.6% +1.0% –
Institutions buying 179 292 –
Institutions selling 105 152 –
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.92 –

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.

ARCBSAIASFWL
ARCB 1.00 0.71 -0.03
SAIA 0.71 1.00 -0.04
SFWL -0.03 -0.04 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARCB, SAIA and SFWL?

Saia (SAIA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arcbest (ARCB) $2.78B, Saia (SAIA) $9.20B, Shengfeng Development (SFWL) $22.05M.

Which stock is cheaper, ARCB, SAIA and SFWL?

Saia (SAIA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arcbest (ARCB) 170.4x, Saia (SAIA) 32.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Arcbest (ARCB) is cheapest (Arcbest (ARCB) 19.2x, Saia (SAIA) 32.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Saia (SAIA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Arcbest (ARCB) +3.7%, Saia (SAIA) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Saia (SAIA) has the highest net margin (Arcbest (ARCB) 0.4%, Saia (SAIA) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Saia (SAIA) leads (Arcbest (ARCB) 1.5%, Saia (SAIA) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Shengfeng Development (SFWL) returned the most: Arcbest (ARCB) +74.8%, Saia (SAIA) +23.7%, Shengfeng Development (SFWL) +330.3%. Over five years, Arcbest (ARCB) compounded fastest (Arcbest (ARCB) +7.1%/yr, Saia (SAIA) +1.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Arcbest (ARCB) 0.00%, Saia (SAIA) 0.00%, Shengfeng Development (SFWL) 0.00%. Saia (SAIA) and Shengfeng Development (SFWL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Arcbest (ARCB) has been the steadiest (Arcbest (ARCB) 46.6%, Saia (SAIA) 47.0%, Shengfeng Development (SFWL) 271.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARCB, SAIA and SFWL?

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