CPA vs DAL vs AAL Stock Comparison

Copa Holdings, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CPA Copa Holdings, S.A.
$131.39 +1.1% 1M +4.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.36B
P/E
8.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.99B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
7 wins
DAL Delta Air Lines, Inc.
$76.75 -6.1% 1M +30.6% 1Y
Market cap
$51.86B
P/E
15.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$71.80B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionCPADALAALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.36B $51.86B $8.09B DAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.6x 15.8x -24.8x CPA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 9.2x 13.8x — CPA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.8% +14.1% +7.5% CPA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.7% 4.6% -0.6% CPA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.3% 10.8% 3.6% CPA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 1.3x 7.6x CPA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.8% +30.6% -5.2% DAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.7%/yr +14.1%/yr -8.8%/yr DAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.7% 38.6% 47.7% DAL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 39/100 29/100 CPA

Percentile Scorecard

CPADALAAL

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

AxisCPADALAAL
Valuation 61 #54 of 136 67 #45 of 136 70 #41 of 136
Growth 64 #45 of 122 48 #64 of 122 14 #105 of 122
Profitability 82 #22 of 119 48 #62 of 119 24 #91 of 119
Financial Health 49 #76 of 147 22 #115 of 147 8 #136 of 147
Shareholder Returns 66 #29 of 84 7 #78 of 84 –
Overall 64 39 29
  • CPA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • DAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCPADALAALSPY
1 month +1.1%-6.1%-9.3% -1.0%
3 months -3.8%-9.8%-16.4% +2.9%
6 months +11.4%+12.1%+0.1% +6.4%
Year to date +8.9%+10.6%-21.0% +11.4%
1 year +4.8%+30.6%-5.2% +13.1%
3 years +60.3%+139.7%+8.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +17.0%+33.9%+2.6% +21.5%
5 years +66.5%+93.1%-36.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.7%+14.1%-8.8% +10.9%
10 years +39.8%+86.4%-69.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +3.4%+6.4%-11.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCPADALAALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.7%38.6%47.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.3%34.2%45.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.811.701.92 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.110.79-0.11 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.5%-48.0%-59.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.4%-18.1%-33.3% -2.5%
52-week high $157.19$93.66$18.15 $779.14
52-week low $107.81$55.65$10.18 $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.

MultipleCPADALAAL
P/E now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 16.0x 15.3xmedian 16.0x -24.6xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.0x 0.7xmedian 1.0x 0.1xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 8.7x 7.7xmedian 8.7x 10.4xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 11.5x 16.7xmedian 11.5x 28.1xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.2x 2.2xmedian 1.2x -2.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.46median 0.82 -8.23median 0.82 0.86median 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 monthsCPADALAAL
Revenue $3.99B $71.80B $58.34B
Operating income $772.19M $5.29B $1.01B
Net income $626.62M $3.29B -$326.00M
Free cash flow – $3.02B $285.00M
EPS (diluted) $15.19 $4.99 $-0.49
Cash & equivalents $266.83M $3.79B –
Total debt $7.93B $13.95B $28.93B
Shares (diluted) 41.26M 659.00M 662.61M
Enterprise value $436.96M $34.04B -$15.95B

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
MetricCPADALAAL
P/E 8.7x 15.3x -24.6x
P/FCF – 16.7x 28.1x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.3x 1.8x
P/S 1.4x 0.7x 0.1x
P/B 1.9x 2.2x -2.0x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 3.1x -1.3x
EV/EBITDA 5.5x 7.7x 10.4x
EV/EBIT 8.3x 11.5x 30.0x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 0.8x 0.5x
EV/FCF – 20.1x 106.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 7.6x 6.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.46 -8.23 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCPADALAAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.8% 14.1% 7.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% 7.8% 3.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.3% -12.9% -51.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% -2.3% -41.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -1.7% -28.9% -157.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 22.2% -1.1% -28.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.5% -29.5% -157.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.9% -1.9% -28.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 0.3% 6.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 4.0% 0.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -1.7% -81.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 36.6% -47.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCPADALAAL
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 29.4% 11.0% 5.0%
Operating margin 19.4% 7.4% 1.7%
Pretax margin 18.0% 6.1% -0.6%
Net margin 15.7% 4.6% -0.6%
FCF margin – 4.2% 0.5%
Operating cash flow margin – 11.1% 7.5%
Return on equity 21.8% 14.8% –
Return on assets 8.9% 3.8% -0.5%
Return on invested capital 15.3% 10.8% 3.6%
Return on capital employed 14.4% 10.0% 2.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.4x -13.4x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCPADALAAL
Debt / assets 31.8% 16.2% 45.0%
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.6x -7.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 1.3x 7.6x
Debt / FCF – 4.6x 101.5x
Liabilities / assets 59.7% 73.8% 106.2%
Equity / assets 40.3% 26.2% -6.2%
Interest coverage 7.3x – 0.6x
Current ratio 1.1x 0.4x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.2x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.1x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 2.22 1.48 0.64

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCPADALAAL
Dividend yield 5.1% 1.0% –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 5.1% 1.0% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusCPADALAAL
Forward P/E 9.2xFY2026 13.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $14.27FY2026 $5.57FY2026 $-0.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -12.3%FY2026 -4.3%FY2026 -375.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +40.6% +42.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.71BFY2026 $70.62BFY2026 $59.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +30.0%FY2026 +21.2%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.4% -5.3% +7.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCPADALAAL
Held by institutions 62.4% 88.2% 78.0%
Institutions holding 321 1,511 578
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.3% +0.6% +16.5%
Institutions buying 187 815 276
Institutions selling 98 483 182
Buyers to sellers 1.91 1.69 1.52

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.

CPADALAAL
CPA 1.00 0.62 0.60
DAL 0.62 1.00 0.85
AAL 0.60 0.85 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CPA, DAL and AAL?

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Copa Holdings (CPA) $5.36B, Delta Air Lines (DAL) $51.86B, American Airlines (AAL) $8.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, CPA, DAL and AAL?

Copa Holdings (CPA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Copa Holdings (CPA) 8.6x, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 15.8x, American Airlines (AAL) -24.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Copa Holdings (CPA) is cheapest (Copa Holdings (CPA) 9.2x, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 13.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Copa Holdings (CPA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Copa Holdings (CPA) +14.8%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +14.1%, American Airlines (AAL) +7.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Copa Holdings (CPA) has the highest net margin (Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.7%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 4.6%, American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%). On return on invested capital, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads (Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.3%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 10.8%, American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Delta Air Lines (DAL) returned the most: Copa Holdings (CPA) +4.8%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +30.6%, American Airlines (AAL) -5.2%. Over five years, Delta Air Lines (DAL) compounded fastest (Copa Holdings (CPA) +10.7%/yr, Delta Air Lines (DAL) +14.1%/yr, American Airlines (AAL) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Delta Air Lines (DAL) has been the steadiest (Copa Holdings (CPA) 42.7%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) 38.6%, American Airlines (AAL) 47.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CPA, DAL and AAL?

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