DAL vs UAL vs VLRS Stock Comparison

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines Holdings and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DAL Delta Air Lines, Inc.
$81.46 -4.1% 1M +34.8% 1Y
Market cap
$52.87B
P/E
16.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$71.80B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

United Airlines Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (United Airlines Holdings 5, Delta Air Lines 4, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDALUALVLRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $52.87B $33.77B $688.95M DAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.1x 9.4x -3.1x UAL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 14.9x — UAL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.1% +12.3% +22.0% VLRS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.6% 5.5% -13.8% UAL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.8% 8.9% 5.5% DAL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 1.5x -2.9x VLRS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +34.8% +6.0% -13.6% DAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr +17.9%/yr -19.6%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.6% 48.2% 51.9% DAL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 38/100 48/100 32/100 UAL

Percentile Scorecard

DALUALVLRS

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

AxisDALUALVLRS
Valuation 64 #50 of 136 74 #36 of 136 44 #76 of 136
Growth 47 #65 of 121 48 #64 of 121 28 #88 of 121
Profitability 47 #62 of 115 48 #60 of 115 26 #85 of 115
Financial Health 23 #110 of 143 21 #113 of 143 31 #99 of 143
Shareholder Returns 7 #76 of 82 – –
Overall 38 48 32
  • DAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • VLRS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodDALUALVLRSSPY
1 month -4.1%-8.1%-11.6% -0.2%
3 months -8.9%-15.4%-23.2% +3.9%
6 months +21.2%+15.8%-15.5% +8.2%
Year to date +17.4%-6.4%-31.4% +12.9%
1 year +34.8%+6.0%-13.6% +12.3%
3 years +165.8%+208.9%+1.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +38.5%+45.7%+0.6% +23.3%
5 years +108.1%+127.6%-66.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +15.8%+17.9%-19.6% +10.9%
10 years +96.4%+92.4%-68.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +7.0%+6.8%-10.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureDALUALVLRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.6%48.2%51.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.3%44.1%48.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.732.242.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.900.12-0.26 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.0%-49.2%-82.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.0%-23.1%-42.7% -1.2%
52-week high $93.66$136.11$10.63 $779.14
52-week low $55.65$85.21$5.58 $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.

MultipleDALUALVLRS
P/E now vs peer median 16.2xmedian 16.3x 9.5xmedian 16.3x -3.2xmedian 16.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 8.7x 5.7xmedian 8.7x 0.9xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.7xmedian 11.4x 30.5xmedian 11.4x 0.9xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.2x 1.9xmedian 1.2x 20.5xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -8.74median 0.82 1.15median 0.82 0.15median 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 monthsDALUALVLRS
Revenue $71.80B $65.55B $1.59B
Operating income $5.29B $4.92B $14.00M
Net income $3.29B $3.58B -$336.00M
Free cash flow $3.02B $1.12B $1.01B
EPS (diluted) $4.99 $10.93 $-1.91
Cash & equivalents $3.79B $6.65B $803.00M
Total debt $13.95B $26.40B $165.00M
Shares (diluted) 659.00M 327.40M 114.92M
Enterprise value $35.05B -$23.93B -$2.50B

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
MetricDALUALVLRS
P/E 16.2x 9.5x -3.2x
P/FCF 17.7x 30.5x 0.9x
P/Operating cash flow 6.7x 4.2x 0.9x
P/S 0.7x 0.5x 0.5x
P/B 2.4x 1.9x 20.5x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 2.3x -862.1x
EV/EBITDA 8.1x 5.7x 0.9x
EV/EBIT 12.1x 9.3x 14.6x
EV/Revenue 0.9x 0.7x 0.1x
EV/FCF 21.1x 41.0x 0.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.0x 5.6x 0.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -8.74 1.15 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDALUALVLRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.1% 12.3% 22.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 7.7% -1.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -12.9% 1.9% -90.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.3% 2.4% -51.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -28.9% 8.6% -104.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -1.1% 7.7% -65.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -29.5% 8.4% -260.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -1.9% 8.3% -21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.3% -12.9% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.0% -3.1% 14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.7% -69.9% 25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 36.6% -5.8% 14.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDALUALVLRS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 11.0% 12.2% 14.1%
Operating margin 7.4% 7.5% 0.9%
Pretax margin 6.1% 6.9% -17.5%
Net margin 4.6% 5.5% -13.8%
FCF margin 4.2% 1.7% 63.5%
Operating cash flow margin 11.1% 12.4% 63.5%
Return on equity 14.8% 20.8% -610.9%
Return on assets 3.8% 4.2% -5.8%
Return on invested capital 10.8% 8.9% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 10.0% 8.5% 0.4%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.8x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x 2.3x -3.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDALUALVLRS
Debt / assets 16.2% 31.0% 2.8%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.5x 3.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 1.5x -2.9x
Debt / FCF 4.6x 23.7x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 73.8% 79.1% 99.3%
Equity / assets 26.2% 20.9% 0.7%
Interest coverage – 3.6x 0.0x
Current ratio 0.4x 0.8x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.6x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.51 1.38 0.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDALUALVLRS
Dividend yield 1.0% – –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 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.

ConsensusDALUALVLRS
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 14.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.14FY2026 $7.04FY2026 $-1.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -11.7%FY2026 -33.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +40.7% +75.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $71.03BFY2026 $66.54BFY2026 $3.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.9%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.2% +13.5% +6.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDALUALVLRS
Held by institutions 88.2% 89.6% 28.4%
Institutions holding 1,512 1,066 75
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +2.4% -2.1%
Institutions buying 816 568 32
Institutions selling 483 341 24
Buyers to sellers 1.69 1.67 1.33

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.

DALUALVLRS
DAL 1.00 0.90 0.56
UAL 0.90 1.00 0.59
VLRS 0.56 0.59 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DAL, UAL and VLRS?

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Delta Air Lines (DAL) $52.87B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $33.77B, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) $688.95M.

Which stock is cheaper, DAL, UAL and VLRS?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Delta Air Lines (DAL) 16.1x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 9.4x, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -3.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is cheapest (Delta Air Lines (DAL) 15.8x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 14.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

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: Delta Air Lines (DAL) +14.1%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +22.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) has the highest net margin (Delta Air Lines (DAL) 4.6%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.8%). On return on invested capital, Delta Air Lines (DAL) leads (Delta Air Lines (DAL) 10.8%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Delta Air Lines (DAL) returned the most: Delta Air Lines (DAL) +34.8%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +6.0%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.6%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Delta Air Lines (DAL) +15.8%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +17.9%/yr, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -19.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Delta Air Lines (DAL) has been the steadiest (Delta Air Lines (DAL) 38.6%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.2%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 51.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DAL, UAL and VLRS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) leads on 5. 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.