BABA vs UPS vs ZTO Stock Comparison

Alibaba Group Holding, United Parcel Service and ZTO Express (Cayman) Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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BABA Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
$99.51 -7.6% 1M -44.7% 1Y
Market cap
$227.02B
P/E
21.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$150.46B
Div. yield
–
Digital Marketplaces Technology
1 win
UPS United Parcel Service Inc
$107.31 +14.2% 1M +10.2% 1Y
Market cap
$92.16B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$89.93B
Div. yield
–
Parcel Delivery Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

ZTO Express (Cayman) leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (ZTO Express (Cayman) 8, Alibaba Group Holding 1, United Parcel Service 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBABAUPSZTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $227.02B $92.16B $16.06B BABA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.6x 20.2x 10.8x ZTO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.2x 15.9x 10.4x ZTO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% -0.4% +21.2% ZTO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.0% 5.1% 19.0% ZTO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.4% 12.9% 15.0% ZTO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.9x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -44.7% +10.2% +4.3% UPS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.6%/yr -12.9%/yr -7.5%/yr ZTO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.2% 30.1% 24.3% ZTO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 43/100 68/100 ZTO

Percentile Scorecard

BABAUPSZTO

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

AxisBABAUPSZTO
Valuation 67 #55 of 166 42 #79 of 136 73 #38 of 136
Growth 17 #127 of 153 20 #97 of 121 78 #27 of 121
Profitability 55 #70 of 153 69 #36 of 112 71 #33 of 112
Financial Health 59 #74 of 179 33 #94 of 140 83 #25 of 140
Shareholder Returns 30 #64 of 91 53 #38 of 80 33 #54 of 80
Overall 46 43 68
  • BABA ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • UPS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • ZTO ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBABAUPSZTOSPY
1 month -7.6%+14.2%+1.4% +0.7%
3 months -14.4%+2.0%-16.6% +3.7%
6 months -24.5%-1.4%-22.3% +7.1%
Year to date -32.1%+8.2%-4.8% +12.8%
1 year -44.7%+10.2%+4.3% +11.9%
3 years +19.7%-22.7%-16.2% +85.2%
3 years, per year +6.2%-8.2%-5.7% +22.8%
5 years -39.7%-49.7%-32.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year -9.6%-12.9%-7.5% +10.9%
10 years -2.4%-0.4%+17.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year -0.2%0.0%+1.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureBABAUPSZTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.2%30.1%24.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%33.4%25.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.120.710.08 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.110.340.18 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.9%-64.4%-50.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.7%-10.6%-23.1% -1.2%
52-week high $179.97$120.00$25.88 $779.14
52-week low $94.81$90.87$18.59 $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.

MultipleBABAUPSZTO
P/E now vs peer median 21.9xmedian 16.7x 20.0xmedian 16.5x 10.7xmedian 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 0.9xmedian 0.9x 2.0xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 12.7x 9.6xmedian 8.8x —median 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.0xmedian 10.5x 14.7xmedian 11.9x 7.4xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.7x 5.3xmedian 1.2x 1.7xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -15.23median 0.39 -0.88median 0.84 1.33median 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 monthsBABAUPSZTO
Revenue $150.46B $89.93B $7.81B
Gross profit $57.45B – $1.96B
Operating income $4.39B $6.58B $1.64B
Net income $10.08B $4.57B $1.51B
Free cash flow $33.19B $5.46B $2.13B
R&D $10.68B – –
EPS (diluted) $4.38 $5.37 $1.81
Cash & equivalents $21.06B $4.65B $1.46B
Total debt $83.76B $24.48B $1.72B
Shares (diluted) 2.40B 851.00M 820.80M
Enterprise value $40.65B $69.05B -$189.48M

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
MetricBABAUPSZTO
P/E 21.9x 20.0x 10.7x
P/FCF 7.0x 14.7x 7.4x
P/Operating cash flow 20.4x 9.1x 7.4x
P/S 1.5x 0.9x 2.0x
P/B 1.4x 5.3x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 7.2x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA – 9.6x –
EV/EBIT 47.6x 15.2x 7.8x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 1.1x 1.6x
EV/FCF 6.3x 18.4x 6.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.5x 11.3x 6.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -15.23 -0.88 1.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBABAUPSZTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% -0.4% 21.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -2.2% 13.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.2% – 10.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.5% – 7.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -77.5% -21.7% 5.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -35.9% -17.3% 6.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -50.0% -20.2% 22.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.6% -23.0% 8.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -47.9% -20.6% 25.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -1.4% -22.7% 8.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -45.8% 18.6% 46.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.8% -8.0% 4.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -8.5% 54.2% 46.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.6% -4.2% 4.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBABAUPSZTO
Gross margin 38.2% – 25.1%
EBITDA margin – 11.6% –
Operating margin 2.9% 7.3% 21.0%
Pretax margin 9.7% 6.5% 27.7%
Net margin 7.0% 5.1% 19.0%
FCF margin 22.1% 6.1% 27.3%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 9.9% 27.3%
Return on equity 6.2% 29.6% 16.3%
Return on assets 3.6% 6.4% 10.5%
Return on invested capital 2.4% 12.9% 15.0%
Return on capital employed 2.1% 11.6% 15.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.3x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.9x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 0.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBABAUPSZTO
Debt / assets 7.5% 34.4% 11.8%
Debt / equity 0.1x 1.6x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.9x –
Debt / FCF 0.6x 4.5x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 43.6% 78.8% 35.5%
Equity / assets 56.4% 21.2% 64.5%
Interest coverage 3.2x 6.0x 56.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.2x 1.7x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.0x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.3x 1.3x
Altman Z-score 2.29 2.84 3.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBABAUPSZTO
Dividend yield 1.1% 6.1% 2.0%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 1.1% 6.0% 2.0%
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.

ConsensusBABAUPSZTO
Forward P/E 14.2xFY2026 15.9xFY2026 10.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.02FY2026 $6.75FY2026 $1.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +80.9%FY2026 -5.7%FY2026 +20.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.8% +26.7% +13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $174.00BFY2026 $87.80BFY2026 $8.91BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.3%FY2026 -1.0%FY2026 +26.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.7% +14.6% +12.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBABAUPSZTO
Held by institutions 10.1% 70.9% 7.4%
Institutions holding 1,219 2,139 194
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.4% +6.0% +1.8%
Institutions buying 556 1,090 100
Institutions selling 421 809 64
Buyers to sellers 1.32 1.35 1.56

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.

BABAUPSZTO
BABA 1.00 0.02 0.23
UPS 0.02 1.00 0.14
ZTO 0.23 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BABA, UPS and ZTO?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) $227.02B, United Parcel Service (UPS) $92.16B, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) $16.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, BABA, UPS and ZTO?

ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 21.6x, United Parcel Service (UPS) 20.2x, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) 10.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) is cheapest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 14.2x, United Parcel Service (UPS) 15.9x, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) 10.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) +8.1%, United Parcel Service (UPS) -0.4%, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) +21.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) has the highest net margin (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 7.0%, United Parcel Service (UPS) 5.1%, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) 19.0%). On return on invested capital, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) leads (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 2.4%, United Parcel Service (UPS) 12.9%, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) 15.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Parcel Service (UPS) returned the most: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -44.7%, United Parcel Service (UPS) +10.2%, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) +4.3%. Over five years, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) compounded fastest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -9.6%/yr, United Parcel Service (UPS) -12.9%/yr, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) -7.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) has been the steadiest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 40.2%, United Parcel Service (UPS) 30.1%, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) 24.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BABA, UPS and ZTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO) leads on 8. 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.